I have been away a few days. My girlfriend went back to Sweden and I spent some time out of town. I come back to a complete mess. Consider this fair warning. I am NOT going to tolerate anymore crap. Here are a few rules to follow. If you dont, then expect to be banned because I am not going to allow this forum to turn into some sort of immature, social gossipy, angst ridden forum. The rules are simple and I dont believe too much to ask. 1. If you have nothing "constructive" to offer when u read a piece of work, then SAY nothing. I dont want to see any more people calling people names based on something they write or just generally insulting the work. Critique it without insulting it. 2. No more swearing in the open forums. I dont wanna see ONE F U C K directed at another person or persons EVER again. If you cannot respond in a thread without using offensive language, then keep your trap shut. I am not talking about mild swearing...I am talking about hardcore words...and you ALL are smart enough to use good judgement. I am also not talking about language used within a piece of work. That is acceptable provided u include some kind of warning that it contains adult subject matter. 3. If you are having trouble with someone messaging you privately, simply put them on ignore. I have no idea what the heck has been going on in the backgrounds here that got you all so riled up, but I am seriously fed up with the crap. I dont want this to be some sort of crap soap opera forum so I am going to clean house if thats what it takes. For those of you who post your work here and do so because you love to write and love to have people read it, then i sincerely apologize that you have had to tolerate all this garbage. Report any problems to me or another Mod and they will be dealt with as quickly as possible. And again, I am terribly sorry. Let this be a final warning. Knock off the crap or reap the consequences.
I sympathise, IndianaJoan. Still, you might be better off targetting your anger specifically at those involved rather than lashing out in a general rant complete with heavy-handed threats. It doesn't give a very good impression. Being a moderator can be a tough job, but the membership expects the moderators to be up to the task and not to lose it. Once you guys start losing it, it's time to abandon ship. Good luck getting things sorted. Cheers, Rob
I think in all fairness Indianajoan has a good reason to be angry. I fully agree with Indy's post and actions. I'm not fully aware myself of whats started this arguement between members. Indianajoan has a very hard enough job as it is. And I fully belive she ismore than upto the task. ~Raven.
Well the thing is things kick of when other weird members post sick things on the forum like songs potraying incest and what i like to call borderline pedophile stuff. I wont name them but one in particular is ruining things for others that poster constantly use's the F.~! wordin most of the posts that user replies to or creates. its disgusting and annouying. Accusing other memebers of arguing is miss placed. This was a clean forum and thats why it worked. But now members are allowed to post garbage sicko stuff I mean the pedophile type of stuff well it borders on that word. It is wrong. This is something I strongly believe in that is my religion. that is why i feel strongly. But Indianajoan you cannot punish those that don't like this material. But you need some sort of censor. and i dont mean for bad language we all do that i mean the freaky stuff. Yor Old Pal Jacky O Ripper
First off, you missed the point. If your review is constructive, then by all means put what you want in it be it negative or positive. The key word is CONSTRUCTIVE. I do not want to see comments such as "wow this is really disgusting" because it servers NO purpose other than to instigate problems.
Religion is subjective and what is offensive to one may not be offensive to another. As long as work here that has explicit tendencies is labeled in the thread title as such, it is allowed and I for one will never censor anything. As a human being I have free will which gives me the choice to read or not to read something. If the title says its explicit, and you have religious issues, I would suggest that you not read it. If one particular writer writes things that offend you, then I suggest you avoid reading materials by said person. Other than that, I am sorry to say that I will not ban a person simply because I or someone else considers the writing "offensive" or "disgusting".
There are far too many people to spend my entire nights sending PM's about this stuff. In general there seems to be a problem here and I am going to take care of it. No threat involved. It's a guarantee meant to safeguard those of us who come here because we love to write and want to share that with other writers. I'm not angry, I am simply not going to allow this kind of stuff to continue because it totally destroys the integrity of this place. I want people to visit and to want to stay. In order to do that, we need to present a nice, tolerant and peaceful environment where people can feel free to share their work and talk about writing in general without feeling bullied or insulted by other members. And I beg to differ, I have not lost it. I am just making it very clear that I'm not going to allow this to continue. This is not high school, this is a writing forum. Heavy handed or not, I guess thats just the way it is for now. If the message applies to you, then so be it, if it does not, well then you havent a thing to worry about. I am truly sorry that you consider it heavy handed and harsh but I feel at this point that there are some problems that need to be addressed.
With respect, that's a cop out. The number of people involved was not huge. If you wear the moderator hat, people expect you to moderate, but to do so in a fair and reasonable manner. You sound it. Re-read your post. Whether you feel you did or not, that is how you came across. What, you mean you don't know? Doesn't that illustrate my point? You didn't deal with the people involved, you launched an angry rant. No-one is arguing with your goal. We all want a forum fit for use. As moderator, you have an important role to play. You represent the forum management. How you conduct yourself matters. Your post does nothing to inspire confidence. I guess I'd better "shut my trap" before you "clean house" or I'll "reap the consequences." Cheers, Rob
Come on now. That was totally un-called for Rob,and you know it. Its replies like that that spike a persons back up. I fully agree with what Indianajoan has posted. It sounds to me that your picking an arguement with Indianajoan. ~Raven.
You're entitled to your opinion, Raven, and I fully respect that. I don't ask that you agree with me. As for picking an argument, I take it we're allowed to express our opinions freely in such a thread? I've made my points, I've explained why, it's not as if I'm arguing for the heck of it. Cheers, Rob
This comes at a good time... There was has been what, three posts of nothing but links to porn in the last week or two?
Robert I am sorry that you disagree with me. I am sorry that the warning offended you. I have been PMd about quite a few people and i do NOT spend my entire day here as I have children and other obligations. When I log on here, I never have time to just read stuff anymore. I have to spend it chasing, deleting and editing bad links/threads. I am not going to spend my day PMing back and forth with a rather large group of users about this. THis problem has presented itself more than once and I have continually pushed for decency when critiquing which has not happened (not everyone has abused this of course, but its happening frequently by many users. I have worked hard to keep things clean here considering i have a job and full time children. I have banned only one actual user that wasnt a spambot in all the time I have been here and I do NOT take banning lightly. I appreciate that you want to talk about this and thats fine. We can agree to disagree, but to infer that I would ban you for questioning me is an unfair assumption on my character. I asked for decency to be used several times to no avail and I got tired of PMing people. I stand by my decision.
Well I'll give you that you have made your point. Personally I don't understand why you felt the need to make a point. However. Its is your opinion and I too respect a persons single opinion. But the Moderators Indianajoan are doing what you think they should be doing. Taking in hand the issues at hand and sorting them out. ~Raven.
I think he definitely overreacted, but let him be human guys. Plus, overreacting back isn't helping anyone, that's how flame wars begin.
lol, it's funny because you all seem to think there's difficulty in grasping this concept. It's really quite easy: If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. You can give criticism as long as there is niceness in it. It can't all be "raar you suck", but it can be "I didn't like that, but that was quite good." Make sense? Good.
This place isn't that bad...I mean sure people over reacted to that one poem about rape, and there are one too many whiners, but don't take away my right to use my favorite word. PLEASE! I have fruit snacks, I can share. How about this, no more personal problems in the lounge. If you have a personal problem and need to talk about it to somebody, go to the admin or keep them to yourself. 'Cause more than likely somebody's going to say something that's going to offend you. I'm having trouble with my dog. Dude, your dog's gay. Is not. My dog can beat up your dog! ::Is not. My dog can beat up your dog:: Go back to Kendergarden, you child. ::Kendergarden:: It's kindergarten you fuckin' stupid-shit. Obviously you need to go back there. Eat, my ass! See, that's what happens, 90% of the time when you bring personal problems into the internet realm. It's no different here. Some people are immature, others get offended way too easily. I definately don't. So if I've made anybody go poopy in there pants, I apologize- but not really.
Yeah, that's a bit out of line. If you like looking at porn (which I certainly do) that's your own business. Personally I think people who indulge in that shit have problems (which I certainly do) and need to get a girlfriend (I've got a blow up doll...does that count?) But it's one of those things that are...I guess private. And it's damn right rude to post links on a site that doesn't tolerate such a thing. It's...it's...internet vandalism- that's what!
I'm not a fan of censorship, and some of the stuff I like reading raises eyebrows on the train in the morning, but I remember clicking an "I agree" box on my way into this site. If you don't agree, go somewhere else. Whatever the right to free speech guarantees, it doesn't guarantee the right to an intelligent and sensitive audience to listen and understand. It's much more difficult to cultivate the latter than the former - and there's no point having the one without the other. So, I support the moderators stance on this. We should be more respectful of the communities general interests. There's a time and a place for Mireabeau Octavo, Sade and Masoch - much as I enjoyed The Torture Garden, I wouldn't post pages of it on the walls of a high school.
OK. Ive not been active lately in my reviewing but I have kept a close eye on the situation at hand. I agree with Indiana to a point so I will explain myself: 1. NO SWEARING at all, this is absolutely unacceptable (unless of course the item reviewed is absolutely terrible IN WHICH 99% OF THE TIME IT IS NOT) 2. I find no Problems with bickering as Its a way to deal with problems. IF it causes SWEARING and pointless insults, then it will be delt with. If you wish to alert the moderators to an issue then I am completely free to anything. I LOVE ARGUEMENTS. So from now on I WILL DEAL WITH BICKERING. If you are angry because someone put something rude in a review of your work then I dont care, unless its terrible. It says somewhere that you need to be able to take a beating with the reviews, if you dont want critisicm THEN DONT POST ANYTHING. 3. Icky Yucky stuff is A BIG BIG NO NO. Do not post anything up here that is or has a link to anything more than M15+ etc. I find naughty stuff in the Recycle bin every day, might I remind people its a Writing Site? 4. POINTLESSLY ANNOYING IS POINTLESS. for example, Bicker, might find himself banned. Earlier in this topic he posted "I'll put whatever the hell I like in my reviews thank you". Although he used manners its a perfect example of something that should not have been posted unless it was explained and justified. That is the sort of thing that irritates me. 5. NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER Plagiarise. Enough said? Thats the naughtiest naughty of the naughty's and I believe is an instant ban? 6. I have many things to say but It turns out I forgot about a lot of it so SOME OF YOU PEOPLE ARE VERY LUCKY. I am going to start keeping a list of offenders and the forums they posted the offending stuff in, be ready. P.S. Indiana, I think your first post was a little over the limit....though it was kinda called for. Please dont swear in it? If you dont want to take the evil's then just dont. I myself enjoy dealing with irritants, so please put the load on me if you wish. Also, I may mention that whenever someone says "this will not continue" like you did, it continues anyway. The moderators must always take a measured stance on this Indiana, never even look like we lose our control. Its how things work. P.S.S. I know I contradicted myself back there saying that moderators should stay in control and the fact that my very message reeks or strangeness tells otherwise. IGNORE THE STRANGENESS. To complete this I hope in my ramblings I have taken away a load from the moderators.
Ya know, this thread has pretty much turned me off this site. I dont know what that last mod post was about, but I dont think I can scratch myself without getting in trouble. I just wanted somewhere to come and share writing and get some feedback. Instead theres this whiney crap to wade through. Its disappointing, and its doing none of you any favours, mods and owners included. I feel like I am back in high school. What a let down this experience has been, and it didnt have to be this way at all.
