Newgrounds.com — Everything, By Everyone.

At 6/3/09 08:41 PM, SuperMarioBrosS wrote: Unfortunately for me, Malachy is trying to bring this issue into the BBS (when he bans me, he bans me more harshly than normal because of the abusive reviews conflict). How is he bringing this issue here? His Review Answers 2.0 thread is the answer. That is where trouble is arising. Got to live with it though. If he's sweeping across the BBS hunting me down, he's going to have some trouble.

I've looked at your ban history, and it doesn't look like Mal has banned you that harshly at all TBH... looks fairly standard for the most part. Perhaps you're blowing this whole thing out of proportion?

You may think a certain mod has it out for you, but in reality we don't moderate that way, because targeting specific users is a pretty serious abuse of power. Also, mods and admins can view ban histories, so the evidence would be plain to see were a user to complain.

All right, I got two things...

I think that threads that just say "discuss" and a picture with nothing else shouldn't be allowed. Like, they can be funny sometimes (like this for example), but other times, it's just a title like "this happened" and then the author just says "discuss". Like, there's not much to add to that. I think that people should expand on their ideas more.

Also, I think that mods should send you at least a PM when they delete more important threads. Not stupid spam threads (I can understand that you guys don't want your PM box filled with "OMFG WTF!!??"s), but stuff where the person who made the post might have some questions as to why it was deleted. For example, a few days ago, I made an "Art Rock Club", which is a genre of music, only to come back 2 days later to find that my links to the page gave me the 'ol angry faic telling me the thread was nowhere to be found. And I was sitting there without any explanation as to why it was gone. I set up some guidelines, explained what art rock was, but got nothing telling me what I did wrong or why it was deleted. So, if you guys could do that in the future, that'd be great...

At 6/3/09 06:51 PM, Fyndir wrote: What is the current policy regarding the signing of bans?

Up to the individual mod, but as far as I know everybody signs bans unless they be destroy bans.

I can't remember the last time I had an unsigned ban, but I know it's happened before and it's frustrating to not know who to contact.

Yeah, it's been gone over a few times and I think everybody on the team now does voluntarily sign their bans unless they come from destroy.

Would there be any way to edit the system so that bans are automatically signed by the mod who handed them out?

Probably it could be done, but like any other changes to the system, it would take awhile as updating the BBS isn't a huge priority at present with all the other features being rolled out.

At 6/3/09 09:21 PM, Fyndir wrote: When a mod does choose to destroy a thread, the standard ban doesn't include their name, does it?

I think one of my destroy bans included the name of a moderator. My memory could be off though.

There really is just one last thing to be said in this thread.

Ohhhh, oh, oh, oh, ohhh.
It must have been cold there in my shadow,
to never have sunlight on your face.
You were content to let me shine, that's your way.
You always walked a step behind.

So I was the one with all the glory,
while you were the one with all the strain.
A beautiful face without a name for so long.
A beautiful smile to hide the pain.

Did you ever know that you're my hero,
and everything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle,
for you are the wind beneath my wings.

It might have appeared to go unnoticed,
but I've got it all here in my heart.
I want you to know I know the truth, of course I know it.
I would be nothing without you.

Did you ever know that you're my hero?
You're everything I wish I could be.
I could fly higher than an eagle,
for you are the wind beneath my wings.

Did I ever tell you you're my hero?
You're everything, everything I wish I could be.
Oh, and I, I could fly higher than an eagle,
for you are the wind beneath my wings,
'cause you are the wind beneath my wings.

Protip: That's me on the left, Avie on the right. =3

At 6/3/09 09:21 PM, Fyndir wrote: What about for destroys?

When a mod does choose to destroy a thread, the standard ban doesn't include their name, does it?

No, it does not, but moderators can still edit those bans to include their names if they so choose.

In all, honesty, if you are receiving destroy bans that don't make sense you either really don't understand the forum rules or the type of ban was incorrect. I'm not saying you didn't deserve such a ban, just that if it was on a really iffy thread that might not have been best choice to express WHY it was you were banned. I'd suggest contacting any moderator if you're confused as they may have seen the thread, know who implemented it etc. In the case they don't know, we'll deal with it internally and such as a team.

In response to PinballWizard, I try to do that and I've asked for such a feature to make that simpler to do so maybe eventually it will happen, who knows. Right now though, if more than one person has posted in a thread it means pming every user and then corresponding with every user who posted in the thread. I tried to do it once and it didn't work out well. I would get upwards of 30 pms per day and end up not enjoying my time here as most of them were just confused users or upset.

At 5/31/09 12:46 PM, Transformer wrote: The rules are pretty clear when it comes to alt- and gimmick accounts:
- Creating parody threads or posting with gimmick accounts.
- Posting with an alternate account whilst banned or your main account while an alt is banned. Both accounts may be deleted.

you may have as many alt accounts as you wish, but if you make an account soley for the purpose of bullshitting around, it will be banned - just llike any troll/flamer/whatever would be.

Pafatshwhaaaaaaaaaaaaa? My main account got locked just for having alt accounts...

At 6/4/09 03:25 PM, MasterDragonClock wrote: Pafatshwhaaaaaaaaaaaaa? My main account got locked just for having alt accounts...

That will never happen, the majority of moderators and administrators have alternate accounts, you'll only get your main account locked/delete if you break the rules, if you use your alternate accounts to spam or avoid bans that your main account is on. You're clearly missing out some information, Wade would never lock just for having alt accounts.

At 6/3/09 09:28 PM, NEVR wrote: I've looked at your ban history, and it doesn't look like Mal has banned you that harshly at all TBH... looks fairly standard for the most part. Perhaps you're blowing this whole thing out of proportion?

I don't want to be a complete dick NEVR but here's why you fail to see my points:

Most of the bans looks standard. Yes, I agree with you. However, you weren't present during the scene where Mal banned me most of the time (except for my 30 day ban; you were there when that happened).

You may think a certain mod has it out for you, but in reality we don't moderate that way, because targeting specific users is a pretty serious abuse of power. Also, mods and admins can view ban histories, so the evidence would be plain to see were a user to complain.

Look at my ban records again and find my first trolling ban:

"Please don't go to the video game forum looking for a fight (bashing popular companies, getting the rise out of people, etc.) ~ Mal" (2 days)

I think that was the ban message (something like that).

Let me tell you what the hell happened there:

I went into a Sonic thread discussing about the problems of Sonic The Hedgehog and how to fix it. I left my points on what will make Sonic games better. I then left there and went to the General forum posting stuff. Then, (sorry for my poor transition usage) I returned back to the thread seeing what happened. Someone decided to argue with my points. So I decided to counter his points by shooting out details that make his points shit. The thing repeated twice. Then, Mal came along, deleted our entire conversation, banned me for 2 days AND LEFT THE OTHER DOUCHE FREE!!! See, there is where my point of Mal being opinionated comes from. Now even though he explained this to me in PM, I still have the suspicion that it was his opinion that got me banned. Here you go: Elaboration on one point that makes the BBS shit.

He told me why the other dude didn't get banned (because he didn't troll often) but I was a FUCKING AMATEUR then! Cut me some fucking slack! I had 100 posts then! If a more experienced BBS user gets free and the inexperienced user gets banned, what does that tell me? Mal hates me. Regardless of who trolled more or whatever, that douche did break a BBS rule. If both of us were banned, fine. However I got banned and he got free.

I got this Mario/Sonic shit out of this since I got banned for defending Sonic and attacking Mario while the other dude got away because he defended Mario (poorly) and attacked Sonic. Since he got banned, I thought Mal hated Sonic. Despite his explanation during that situation, I still think he does. That's where OPINIONS interfere with bans.

You mods can see the ban messages and stuff in the ban records, but you cannot see the entire picture before the ban was imposed.

In the BBS, Mal and I don't really have many problems. WITH abusive reviews THOUGH, we hate each other like fucking hell. I've already elaborated that in my previous post. Also, NEVR, our hatred of each other because of abusive reviews is actually stirring up problems between us in the BBS. Mal is bringing this shit to the BBS (again) so that I can suffer from his bans.

~

Oh, I also forgot to address this thing but let me do it now:

At 6/3/09 05:42 PM, Twilight wrote: Seriousness is killing the BBS, nothing else.

How would you know? You're one of those smartasses that makes this place a rotten piece of shit.

"GO KILL YOURSELF" was a post you made in a thread. Insult was directed to the OP. No contribution to the topic.

(Post got deleted at the end.)

I still support Poozy when he called you a "little saucy cunt" in the same thread we trolled in. (Quoted to show that I'm not making the insult; someone else did.) Hell, I have nothing against Poozy despite lots of people bitching about him.

"Also, I directly address this MAINLY to Malachy: STOP BEING AN OPINIONATED MORON."

Mal has banned me countless times for the lulz. One of the best mods on the team if you ask me, and I know Mal. He only bans when you need to be banned. Not because he feels like it, just because you need a break or because you're dumb as hell.

You know what? Back off. Nobody asked you for your opinion for my thoughts. I'm only asking a forum mod. I'm not going with your 'alt' shit that happened in the other thread. I have had major problems with Malachy before and it lasted for a fucking month. I know what I'm saying and your involvement has not caused the mess I dealt with Mal before. And this is MY experience; how are you supposed to know how I dealt with Malachy?

If anyone is the best mod, it would be Poozy, Sanjay, Dry-Ice, NEVR, Evark, Rig, Rucklo, DirtySyko... I have a huge list. At least none of them discouraged me from finding BBS/Review abuse before.

No, that's not brown nosing. I've just seen a different side to Mal, a less serious more funny one, and the guy is pretty fair.

Well excuse me, I guess I have never seen the 'less serious' Malachy before (unless this is a huge fucking lie) and even if he shows it to us right at this minute, he will still be the same guy that caused a huge unnecessary mess with me.

After all the shit he did to piss the fuck out of me (causing an unnecessary mess, DISCOURAGING ME from finding & flagging abusive reviews), I'm not going to buy the true Mal. Maybe it was because we both were never meant to get along; always annoying the hell out of each other.

I'm not going to deal with this bullshit anymore. I'm only going to respond AFTER a mod or another intelligent user (like Scarab). You obviously are a troll. Prolong this; you won't get a response back.

And if you WANT FUCKING EVIDENCE that Malachy is discouraging me from flagging reviews, I'll give you the damn evidence. This applies to any mod or user that thinks that I'm lying. And I'm not going to deal with the shit he's throwing at me; I'll just flick it off and continue finding abusive reviews. However, the discouragement was meant to destroy your argument about Mal being 'one of the best in the mod team' because clearly in my (and others') opinion(s), he doesn't deserve that title.

Time to start a fucking writing lecture now to pin this shit on the ground and keeping it pinned there:

Although Malachy gave review help to users in 'Mal's gift to you: Review Answers', he does not deserve the title 'one of the best in the mod team' as evidenced by of him locking threads and saying 'blog it', discouraging me from flagging abusive reviews, being an opinionated moron and hurting innocent users while helping fucking statwhores with whistle help in BOTH of his review help threads.

A thesis statement that shows my position. I nailed 1/7 of a fucking essay paper. I could make a fucking 7-paragraph essay paper complete with concrete details and topic sentences about my position AND destroy the opposing position too.

Also, surprisingly, this is the EXACT same method I used in several threads that got me banned from the BBS by Mal (especially in that Sonic thread). This is the strategy on how I have basically destroyed his weak opinions and continued to pound him (indirectly) with more supporting details. ARE THERE ANY FUCKING FLAWS WITH THIS STRATEGY? I had to use this technique in the VG forum to tell some hardcore Nintendo fanboys to shut the fuck up and it worked (and I got banned at the cost of doing so).

I'm making too many posts bitching about Malachy. No matter how long this goes, he will still continue to be the opinionated moron that I have always known him. Time for me to shift to a new topic on why the BBS is shit. This statement doesn't mean that Mal is making the place better; he is still making this place a piece of shit with his OPINIONS (especially when it boils down to the simple, yet irritating 'blog it' statement & lock for the thread).

I have pinned this shit on the ground with my long thesis statement; leave it pinned. Unless there is something good said, I'm not going to continue this topic.

Sorry for the bump (didn't have enough characters to add that in the previous post) and the double post but here's something that happened recently.

Who is the mod that locked the thread and forgot to delete the middle post?

Here's another problem in the BBS and this is one more detail to back up that bullshit posts stay up despite the number of mods online.

Evidence:

(Only 3 posts are present in that thread. Then the thread got locked.)

Lmfao.

Wow.

I just quit the BBS.

At 6/4/09 05:39 PM, SuperMarioBrosS wrote:

Ultimately, it's a real shame that you feel so targeted by a mod... but you have to remember that this is only an internet site, and as such I feel that use of words like "hatred" are a little strong in these situations.

This matter, frankly, is between you and Malachy. I understand you may want to vent, but this thread really isn't the place for that. At first it seemed more like you were giving named examples of what you feel mods aren't doing right, but now it's just turned into a bit of a personal attack on one mod.

If you want to get this sorted out, you should do it quietly and in private as opposed to on the public BBS. I had a little run in with Mal myself back before I became a mod, and I can tell you from experience that if you approach him in a calm and collected manner about the problem, he'll be more than willing to try and resolve things with you.

This discussion should end here, as it's sending this thread off topic, which is the last thing we want.

I think we've pretty thoroughly covered the topic of mods (unless anybody has anything else to add), so does anybody have anything else to contribute on the subject of what could improve the BBS as a whole?

Firstly I hope you realise this topic is called "Open Discussion" NOT "Post Your Bitch Hurt Here". It's tempting to reply to everything you put, but it would only make matters worse =\ Like jumping in front of a runaway train to try and stop it.. You won't win, and you'll just help make it a bigger mess.

At 6/4/09 05:39 PM, SuperMarioBrosS wrote:

Although Malachy gave review help to users in 'Mal's gift to you: Review Answers', he does not deserve the title 'one of the best in the mod team' as evidenced by of him locking threads and saying 'blog it', discouraging me from flagging abusive reviews, being an opinionated moron and hurting innocent users while helping fucking statwhores with whistle help in BOTH of his review help threads.

This though annoys me.

I hope you realise that a large reason people keep coming back to this site is because of the stats feature. Levelling up, Whistle level, B/P Rank - A lot of users love that, and as this site is much more about the flash than it is the forums (even Wade says himself that the forums are really very unimportant when compared to the flash/audio portals), I'd say Mal is well within his rights to be concerned with helping users who give to this site not just take from it. And the 'stat whores' give to this site. They vote flash in and out, they flag abusive reviews, they let mods know when there are spam issues in the portals. Yeah I'd say Mal is doing a damn good job in helping them whenever he can instead of following up on your pathetic complaints.

You think you're doing NG a favor with this relentless rant, but really you just want to aid YOU.

At 6/4/09 05:58 PM, NEVR wrote: does anybody have anything else to contribute on the subject of what could improve the BBS as a whole?

Destroy the General.

I think there should be more moderator created threads about Newgrounds itself. Mod's threads are always good and I always greatly enjoy them.

At 6/4/09 06:00 PM, Gagsy wrote: You think you're doing NG a favor with this relentless rant, but really you just want to aid YOU.

Well said Leanne.

I've stated my views on either the last page or this. Quite frankly it's the users that make the BBS, and the users that break it. It's their general attitude/conduct that determines how the BBS is on any given day.

sum it up well? :D

At 6/4/09 05:58 PM, NEVR wrote: I think we've pretty thoroughly covered the topic of mods (unless anybody has anything else to add), so does anybody have anything else to contribute on the subject of what could improve the BBS as a whole?

I really think everything has been covered, I haven't been able to find anything to add since all of my initial ideas have already discussed. I thought I'd post a link to this thread where some of the NG vets were talking about general. Ultimately it ended probably like this thread will end, with absolutely nothing changing. I realize that's not the attitude that everybody wants to hear, but it's what continues to happen with every attempt to better this forum.

Jonas, I personally think that the administrators know about the camouflage prejudice and therefore won't allow anybody to make opinion threads such as "What do you think of the rules?" ect. I know that there are some secrets on NG which only the NG moderators know about (but one of your Moderators is a grass because I know some of that information).

I'm not 100% on this, but I actually heard from somewhere that the Moderators get paid for every lock & ban. If that's true then Wade is cutting a HUGE corner because of course Moderators would be more than tempted to block anything at the slightest sniff of misconduct.

We can get banned for 1 day and even 3 days just for posting in a thread which we are unsure as to whether it's spam or not. If we post in spam threads at all we are keeping them alive which helps the moderators see them and deal with them.

People have described being on this site like we're Jews in the holocaust, to some extent that's right.

At 6/4/09 06:10 PM, GOTHCLAWZ wrote: I'm not 100% on this, but I actually heard from somewhere that the Moderators get paid for every lock & ban. If that's true then Wade is cutting a HUGE corner because of course Moderators would be more than tempted to block anything at the slightest sniff of misconduct.

It was a joke. We don't get paid for anything. Its just like us saying we got ban points or whatever else. Ultimately, we don't have any stats or money tied to our moderating abilities. Its a voluntary position. Once a year, we get a mod meet of some sort that the office helps out with, but there aren't any additional benefits.

We can get banned for 1 day and even 3 days just for posting in a thread which we are unsure as to whether it's spam or not. If we post in spam threads at all we are keeping them alive which helps the moderators see them and deal with them.

Or, they wouldn't need moderated at all if you didn't post in them. I'd rather not have to lock spam threads. I'd rather the community self moderated. I agree needing moderators is horrible, but unfortunately we do. I'd rather you were just all awesome users who never crossed over the line and never took advantage of another user. That's not the case.

People have described being on this site like we're Jews in the holocaust, to some extent that's right.

No, it really isn't. I'm Jewish and its nothing like that. If it were there wouldn't be a bbs. There is no reason to forcibly ban you all, all the time and if that were case you'd all just be permanently banned after you get banned the first time. Don't think of us as nazis because really we aren't.

At 6/3/09 05:21 PM, BrianEtrius wrote:

At 6/3/09 03:49 PM, NeonFlame126 wrote: The mods haven't really done anything to kill the BBS's fun. The users have.

Exactly. On the other hand, I'd like to direct attention to the thread made by Evark almost two years ago, but it still holds true.

lol, why did i waste precious holiday time whilst in boston posting in that?

At 6/3/09 06:56 PM, Hellian00 wrote: I think a warning for the first time you do something would help. Instead of banning off the bat.

a one day ban should serve as warning enough. gives people time to think about what they've done.

and no, automated bbs thing, just because i'm making two replies in quick succession, i'm not trying to double post

Nothing I can really think for improving the BBS and the cleaning out of spam threads and whatnot but we need more game threads in the general. I notice we have monthly writing contests but maybe someone could crack out a game or two every no and then to try to bring the community of NG forums together as a whole while they all participate in the game.

Sure they may not be any kind of awards or benefits from it but if they all are playing a game in a thread wouldn't it be able to bring a user or two back into the forums for awhile.

I know the photoshop threads are extremely fun at times but some days just having photoshop threads get's annoying. I know we have a few game threads still thriving around but they are pretty old ones too, if I have any ideas for forum games, what should I do with them?

At 6/4/09 07:39 PM, SCTE3 wrote: I know the photoshop threads are extremely fun at times but some days just having photoshop threads get's annoying. I know we have a few game threads still thriving around but they are pretty old ones too, if I have any ideas for forum games, what should I do with them?

Don't use them. The best forum games are the games that don't like they are actually forum games. Games are a great way to bring the community together, but anything that relies on users spamming +1 posts fails. Anything that has 3000 rules also fails. It should be simple and not abusive.

And the fact of the matter is that most users here can't think up things like that and can't participate in them correctly when others do.

At 6/4/09 08:06 PM, gumOnShoe wrote:

Don't use them.

Done and done.

The best forum games are the games that don't like they are actually forum games.

Kind of like the Song analogy thread, it's pretty fun when bumped out to the front but it seems no one has done it in ages, also I enjoy a good joke thread every once in a while, by far T'ird is about the best one I've seen so far.

Games are a great way to bring the community together, but anything that relies on users spamming +1 posts fails.

Sounds like forum games that most try to make up these days, that and the users don't even try, they just whip out MSpaint and don't even try to put any effort into contributing very much, I've seen a few do very well in MSpaint but not many. I know most would say I shut up on that part but I really don't participate in those styles of thread because they feel like they are missing something in theme every time.

Anything that has 3000 rules also fails.

I saw one with 9 rules before.

no cocks please

Guess how well that one went down?

It should be simple and not abusive.

Agreed and done with that, however people abuse the fun most of the time, I should head back to the photoshop cave soon and work on something for the photoshop threads.....

And the fact of the matter is that most users here can't think up things like that and can't participate in them correctly when others do.

This is why I see stories have been moved to the page, more convenient and not as many fast replies which ruined most of the ones we had except that one in the art forum which still seems to be doing well since users there actually take time for each piece.

big house adventure thread

Also most of the joke threads are took too seriously, how annoying. I get a good laugh from backseat modders from time to time to, glad I don't do it anymore, after so many bans, I think you start to learn to back away from doing some things.

SCT3, I pretty much agree with you. If you can come up with something creative and original that's not too spamy see me and I'll see what we can do. Obviously, since game threads are banned I can't just approve one, but if you've got a good enough idea I can present it to the other moderators and see what happens. There are never any guarantees, but its something I'm willing to do to bring fun back into this place for those who can't seem to find it (even if it does exist).

Anyhow, this is going to upset a bunch of you I'm sure, if anyone is even reading this anymore, but Wade made it very clear that "faggot" along with spic and other such words was off limits here. And as far as I'm concerned its still that way because I haven't heard otherwise. So I will be banning for faggot and variations in a majority of circumstances, though not during an intelligent discussion on the word or if you are referencing cigarettes (yes i read all your posts).

I think it should be mandatory to listen to soothing / calming music whilst posting, I've found listening to this whilst posting for the past hour or so has made me calmer and put more thought into my posts.

mandatory music I say!

At 6/4/09 08:57 PM, gumOnShoe wrote: SCT3, I pretty much agree with you. If you can come up with something creative and original that's not too spamy see me and I'll see what we can do.

I will try to do so but my hands seem to be tied with things going on around my place, going out to Wal-Mart to try for a job, lolololol. Aside from that, a couple of days ago while comp was fucked up I had a great idea for a game and then I forgot it which pissed me off. >_>

Obviously, since game threads are banned I can't just approve one, but if you've got a good enough idea I can present it to the other moderators and see what happens.

By happens I'm guessing to wait awhile, but we should bring back forum games, but only the ones that would bring the community together instead of instigating flame wars and sissy fighting amongst the users. I love these kinds of threads that require more discussion but I don't see many here and I'm not very political by any means.

There are never any guarantees, but its something I'm willing to do to bring fun back into this place for those who can't seem to find it (even if it does exist).

It does exist somewhere but it seems to be in the one little corner everyone piles at and then no one can have any kind of fun.

Anyhow, this is going to upset a bunch of you I'm sure, if anyone is even reading this anymore, but Wade made it very clear that "faggot" along with spic and other such words was off limits here.

I see it used from time to time but I like to joke about in the way of piles of sticks and cigarettes, calling someone that doesn't really seem to do anyone anything but instigate stupidity in a crowd.

And as far as I'm concerned its still that way because I haven't heard otherwise. So I will be banning for faggot and variations in a majority of circumstances, though not during an intelligent discussion on the word or if you are referencing cigarettes (yes i read all your posts).

Sounds like loads of fun..

Sorry NEVR, I've just got another mod-related issue I'd like to post here, because otherwise it will bug me! BBS thought bugs tend to crawl in through my eyes and lay eggs in my brain: it's only until I repeatedly smash my head into a wall, for whichever reason seems most natural, that they come flying out.

Transformer. I think I understand about half the joke, and the, erm, humour that arises from various responses, so I'll try to make this brief enough so I don't become that thing. That I partially understand it doesn't mean I think it's funny of course, but as I've said time after time that the forums are all about personal opinions. This applies particularly to humour, I feel, and mod/regular humour especially. I'm not going to talk about mod in-jokes, because I don't really have an issue with them. After all, I figure one of the largely unwritten benefits of being a mod here (in that, you don't state it as a standard reply if asked "what does a mod do?") is that you have access to a largely exclusive sub-community, so it's inevitable that you get different jokes and gimmicks seeping forth to elsewhere. If I severely criticised that, I think I'd almost be saying, "Mods can't have fun.". Who's the "Nazi" then, eh?

What I don't like about this particular thing though is what it says to younger and newer users, who definitely aren't in on anything (or atl east very little), and while it might be seen as a norm to rip them to shreds almost for being new and/or young, I think it still speaks bad things about the BBS. I believe this discussion was, at least partly, set up to get people to talk about the forums as a reaction to various regulars "leaving", so this next example might be relevant, I don't know. I've posted a link to it already I believe, but I point you to this thread. Yes, certain users there could've been a less stupid, I don't deny that, but take note of one of WilliWowza's comments in particular in response to something I said, if you'll excuse my usual grey cloud of seriousness here and there. As I've said, we can all have fun... no, we do have fun, which is why we subscribe ourselves to that disorder known as NG-coholism, but some of the things in this case... well, they come back to that classic equation of "Mod = Example", and that stays more true with those newer and younger users from before (not that I want to make it sound as though they're are defenceless puppies, pawing away at the keyboard or anything).

I'm sure a few of you have seen genuine attempts by newer users to... emulate Transformer's... ahem, "success", and not just those originating from the camp of trendy, fad parody threads. On top of that, I've seen a few more threads that are just simply confused about the whole thing. You might say that the creators of those threads deserve ridicule for questioning things about the mods, but I think the community here is close-knit enough to make it more of a natural response. After all, that's why a lot of us would probably love to scandalise other users out of a disagreement or something, breaking into their houses and getting snapshots of them making love to bedsheets, which can be quickly sent to the e-press.

You might say I'm "butthurt" for not being part of a joke. Despite me being around here for a relatively considerable amount of time, and the frightening amount of lurking I add to my daily tasks, I wouldn't believe myself to be part of a popular regular community unless someone told me I was. Paltalk and Stickam might be seen as tools to make yourself more popular in the community here: I have people I believe to be e-friends in Paltalk, but it's not like a magnet for everything good; I have restricted myself from using Stickam for a handful of reasons. On top of that, I wouldn't say I'm a funny guy: just flick through my last few posts here for a taste of how stiflingly serious I sometimes am. Still, I tell myself it's not really popularity I want, I just want to have a good time... and this is just a point that I feel can be related to good times here.

Pictures of me are developed in black and white, not in an attempt to be arty, but because I clearly don't have much colour about my personality at times. Hey, at least I sleep easier without all the distracting colours, eh?

I think this is quite possibly one of the best threads of the last six months, definitely the most interesting read.

At 6/4/09 10:21 PM, BananaBreadMuffin wrote: I think this is quite possibly one of the best threads of the last six months, definitely the most interesting read.

Exactly.

With this forum being public, it's the users who make it up. From a business point of view, you do want feedback from your customers so you can improve. It's threads like this one that makes me come back to this website. It's always interesting to hear another person's opinion, even if you may not agree with it.