Firstly...the pheonix.net stigma...no, that's not it...its the Silver or Raven part of it. There've been times I've disagreed with them, there've been times I've defended them. If they were hands-off kind of moderators, I'd be happy with the 'tude people sometimes get around here from one or the other. If they were sticklers for the rules, I'd expect them to be a bit removed and aloof, ignoring the opportunity to randomly flame someone. As it is, they're more into forcing politeness than most previous moderators _and_ they can be pretty darned rude themselves at times (and I'm not getting into who started what...that doesn't matter). At least, this is what I've seen in the past few years. If they want to condemn people for being crass or rude, they shouldn't flame someone themselves. That, in my opinion, is abuse of power. And yes, I know full well that most other listservs, particularly on pheonix, are more heavily moderated than this one...this one's _still_ too heavily moderated for my tastes, at times. It has a tradition that has been slowly eroded away over the past few years. The decrease in readership and postings reflects this, I think. People are afraid to post their ideas because if they seem too rude in expressing them or too controversial, they know they'll get squished. >I think other people are smart enough to not flame the moderator >before asking for help. That's the moderator's job...to provide support to his or her constituents (i.e. the list members). In the golden age of GMAST, that meant preventing spam and providing list-related information when it was requested, even by people who flame the moderator or don't try to decipher the headers. And yes, before anyone asks, I've moderated lists before, so I _do_ have a right to tell 'em what their job is. And the lists I moderated I moderated even more closely than the Cravens do here...but those were lists of a different bent than GMAST, without the tradition of near-limitless freedom that some of us had come to enjoy. Thing is, I'm not going anywhere. At least not yet. GMAST might be bereft of the spirit it once had, but there'll still plenty of people around here I do like listening to. I do miss the flame wars, joke posts and other stuff of the good ol' days and have been increasingly concerned over the attitudes of our list moderators, but I have an affinity for this old bucket and I just can't let it go. At least not yet. Oh, while I've got the soapbox, I don't think I expressed my disappointment in the "we don't want their sort here, do we" comment that was made earlier. That sort of elitist attitude is very unbefitting of anyone who wants to carry on the GMAST tradition. GMAST was great through its diversity, which included the jerks (which, based on the recent postings of this one, is getting to be a much broader state of being around here). It's sad to hear a moderator telling the GMAST community that there are certain types of people in our hobby, who were posting about our hobby, that we don't want here. Lucifer >:} -- "The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a heav'n of hell, a hell of heav'n" --Milton, Paradise Lost, Bk. 1 Homepage: http://members.aol.com/noctifer/index.html Lucifer's DJ Webpage: http://members.aol.com/noctifer/private/DJ/index.html Lucifer's Vampire Webpage: http://members.aol.com/noctifer01/private/VampHome/index.html ---------------------------------------------------------------- GMAST Home Page: http://www.phoenyx.net/gmast/
