When we were a VBulletin™ forum, yes, other than the color (green vs. blue) there was a marked visual similarity.
I just joined the other one (.com) and it are bland and strange. And they won't let me have an avatar pic. Those Jerks...
Every community has a different personality, a different tone, a different way of looking at things, different interests, etc. I belong to several because I sometimes need a different perspective, and frankly, being an admin has a way of significantly altering the way people engage you, either too deferential or aggressively targeting you as the one to depose. Sometimes I need to be Joe Schmo and just talk. Our sister site has certainly recovered from that long-ago melt-down, and they learned the lesson that most closed communities learn: Freedom isn't free. It requires a bit of management because there are always those eager to attain a cult of personality at the dear expense of the labor of others. There are also digital pyromaniacs who simply enjoy watching the burn. All communities have their occasional melt-downs. Our forum is no exception. It's a bit like pugilism. A boxing match is often won, not by the man who can throw punches, but by the one who can take them and stay standing. ETA: I've taken the liberty of moving the bulk of this conversation to a thread more suited to the context.
@Wreybies I hear you on the need to be a regular and not a mod. Also on the Pugilist metaphor. But They seem to be a bit too serious over there. Where here things are a bit more relaxed and inviting. I think part of it has to do with them having a grey dull backgroud. Or that they take themselves a bit too serious as writers. IDK...
Well, I am certainly happy that you enjoy our little slice of the digital pie. * * * * * * * * * * * *With that said, what I don't want is for this to become a conversation where we are unkind or overly critical of other entities. Anyone here who has modded or admined an online community will know the complexities of dealing with Unfiltered Humanity™ and the thankless task of trying to make a nice place for like-minded people to gather, when, no matter what you do, there's always a little crowd off to the side sneering at your efforts or outright undermining them. I wish our sister-site only the very best in all their endeavors. * * * * * * * * * * * *
Actually unless you plan on landing a knockout, if you get hit more times than the other guy you will probably lose to decision.
To extend the metaphor to its limit, that's often exactly what happens. The punches taken are representative of allowing the citizenry its freedom to be itself. The knockout comes when a threshold is reached as regards that dynamic and I wield the banhammer against those who have breached the envelope.
That - the last thing anyone needs is different communities slagging each other off and descending into a forum war ( I remember that happening with a forum I modded - it was all very sad and petty, especially when one forum went pop as a result and the other was never quite the same) Incidentally I think I got banned from the other place during its melt down phase... Although that might have been writers forum rather than writing forum I forget... did the chap in question have a name beginning with J ? ( If so I think I succumbed to troll provocation and invited him to perform a biologically improbable act with a large shellfish)
No, not a J, but goodness I do think I know you you're talking about! No, the fellah' in question had a handle that began with an L. I think he burned every bridge there was to burn. I've not seen hide nor hair of him in some time.
Can't we, like, trap them in a room somewhere and make them fight to the death? Virtually speaking of course (or not?). We could set odds and place bets and serve drinks and everything!
No shit Wrey. That latest banned guy's vid he posted is mellow dramatic whack-a-doodle conspiracy theory stuff.
I miss all these fun bans I only get to see the slow-motion fiddly train wrecks finally come to a full-stop. Gotta get my wake/sleep hours on sync over the break.
I didn't know Los Puffins de la Wank lived in the woodwork. I was looking for them in the septic tank (using a robot septic tank searcher - I would never personally inhabit such an environment).
I don't know, man. I would not rule out the septic tank either. Los Puffins Wankesinos have a wide range of habitats.
They are easy to tell from normal puffins due to the right wing being much more muscular than the left
maybe instead of banning them we could make them invisible to the rest of the forum (that is possible on xen, but its a plug in I think) then they can just waste their time depositing troll poop everywhere with no risk of anyone stepping in their guano
the main problem with Пухлый тупик is that they tend to breed like tribbles, we'll be swamped in them shortly - phasers on kill, comrades
Lurking on this thread has been giving me a giggle... But you're right, it's not uncommon for Masturbatory Coastal Dwelling Birds to work in groups. We had this on a car forum I used to moderate. We got "attacked" one night by about 6 of them. They went too far and started to post pictures of dead babies and rotting corpses. Sadly myself and the other mod didn't have the powers to remove them from the site...People left after that and the site was never the same again Kill all wank puffins and kill them now.