UR Retiring

[Nikolai]

Originally posted by Ecthy
Yeah, the funny thing is, as Mark has stated before, anyone whose name is mentioned is out of the race. So Ghengis and Apoc killed the Spiff option

I think he meant the ones who propose themselves.

[Nikolai]

Originally posted by Lawrence of Arabia
has a moderator ever been fired?

We all remember the Markos vs yin26, no?

[Ecthy]

You can't know Nik because you're such a noob, but in past times Mark has stated that the same applies for people proposed by others. To avoid popular votes and stuff.

[Nikolai]

Me, a noob? I think not. Of course, I must have missed that piece of information.

[Zoid]

Spiffor would indeed be an excellent choice.

[Ecthy]

Yeah Spiffor! Spiffor! Everyone! Everyone but Ecthy!!

[Zoid]

I shudder to think what you could do with mod powers. Your incessant posting is bad enough...

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Apocalypse
AH seems a bit on the busy side right now though.

AH used to get special titles such as "Mega Troll" and "Troll Machine" before.

Then there's the fiasco on the Staight Dope Message Board

[Agathon]

Originally posted by DaShi

He'd probably have been more successful, if he did those things. You pretty much sumed up all the complaints about him.

From the moment he was made a mod, a concerted effort to troll him was made by certain posters. Sure, he made some mistakes, but all the mods have done that.

Instead of treating new mods as enemies (even if they were former enemies), it would have been better if people simply wiped the slate clean and attempted to actually help the new mod by not being asshats. The mods aren't here to declare war against, but to make the site work. A couple of years ago Ming was virtually banning me on sight, but I didn't try to mount a campaign to have him removed (in the end it stopped both because I toned down and because people started to know what to expect from me and not to take offence – the same goes for most people I think).

If someone is appointed a mod, then if they have had a controversial past, it should be made clear that the slate is now clean, and that everyone should at least help the new mod instead of doing their best to make his or her life difficult. On the other hand, if the new mod is not a controversial poster, then we are left with about three people to choose from, and one of those is Spiff and the other is St Leo, both of whom would probably be too nice to be a moderator.

[DaShi]

Originally posted by Agathon


From the moment he was made a mod, a concerted effort to troll him was made by certain posters. Sure, he made some mistakes, but all the mods have done that.

I doubt there was a conspiracy. If so, why wasn't I invited?

Instead of treating new mods as enemies (even if they were former enemies), it would have been better if people simply wiped the slate clean and attempted to actually help the new mod by not being asshats. The mods aren't here to declare war against, but to make the site work. A couple of years ago Ming was virtually banning me on sight, but I didn't try to mount a campaign to have him removed (in the end it stopped both because I toned down and because people started to know what to expect from me and not to take offence – the same goes for most people I think).

What do you do when the mod behaves as an asshat? UR couldn't leave some posters alone. I've even put messages in my threads to try to dissuade him from trolling only to be attacked by him. I've encouraged him to simply ignore my posts, if he disagreed with them, but he could help but continue to attack. He never countered my arguments he just slung insults consistently. In one case, it was by my own saving grace that he wasn't banned. And that's just me, there are plenty of other posters he's treated just as badly. Being a mod seemed to become a license to bully and troll for him.

If someone is appointed a mod, then if they have had a controversial past, it should be made clear that the slate is now clean, and that everyone should at least help the new mod instead of doing their best to make his or her life difficult. On the other hand, if the new mod is not a controversial poster, then we are left with about three people to choose from, and one of those is Spiff and the other is St Leo, both of whom would probably be too nice to be a moderator.

That's nonsense. Mods aren't elected by the posters, they're chosen by the administrators. In either case, they are still responsible for their own actions. When UR was first made a mod, I disagreed but I gave it a chance. I said that it might reign in his trolls and beligerence (as you said a mod should do). This never became the case. His controversial past remained the controversial present with mod powers to boot.

The other issue, which I mentioned to Markos, was that certain posters have the personality to become mods: the ability to command respect and authority. MtG is a perfect example of a mod with a controversial past who was able to handle the job. A lot of posters didn't like it and tried to sabotage his position. A lot more aggressively than UR has experienced. Did he egg them on? Did he deliberately target them? No, he did his job. As did Ming. They were all able to act as you described as mod should. UR did not. It made him vulnerable, because he was in the wrong. It made him unable to carry respect, because he couldn't stand up for himself beyond weak insults. The entire thing was a sad state of affairs.

[MarkG]

Originally posted by Nikolai
We all remember the Markos vs yin26, no?

people tend to forget easily
especially when someone starts eating boxes, all things in his past become insignificant

[ColdWizard]

I hereby offer my services. Exclusion ftw. Have fun spamming UR.

[Zoid]

Apolyton - where sinners repent by eating cardboard boxes!

[Ecthy]

Zoid, how does incessant banning sound for a start of change?

[Zoid]

If you´re the one getting banned I´m all for it!