>I really can win this one, but I'd like to correct a few errors and >misconceptions. I'm guessing you meant "can't," yes? >> As it is, they're more into forcing politeness than most previous >> moderators _and_ they can be pretty darned rude themselves at times > >In all the years I've been on Gmast, I know of only one moderator and she >*kicked* (not drove) someone off the list for rudeness in her first month. >I don't think I can accept your claim. That's because you joined, I'm guessing, during Randye's very short term as GMAST moderator (or shortly before that). Randye is still a friend of mine, but that _was_ a very bad move on her part (and why I put the "most" in there). The moderator before her (and maybe more than one, the memory doesn't serve that far back) didn't moderate, for reasons you list later... >> 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. > >I don't believe I've flamed anyone on this list. I've been short with >them, and perhaps on the rude side, but I very, very rarely flame. Though >this could be a perception problem caused by the deflation of "flame" over >the last few years. True, but I wasn't talking about you...I was talking about Karen. What she said was a flame...i.e. a personal attack without substance or explanation. The post she was responding to was rude and insulting, but it did have substance and explanation. >> 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. > >The readership is bigger than it was when we inherited the list from >Stargame. We have averaged 185 members for years now... there hasn't been >a decline in readership. In fact, you don't have any basis to make this >claim on... you don't have access to the numbers. True...I misspoke and I apologize. You do address what I was trying to say in the next paragraph, though...decrease in postings... >The decrease in postings happened long before we established any kind of >"moderation style". I believe the beginning of decline started on the >university site, was heavily impacted by shifting to Stargame (nothing to >do with Stargame, just the fact that it moved and a lot of people didn't >move with it) and it's never recovered. Because... That's true. Things started to slow down substantially during the move to Stargame and the subsequent move to Phoenix. I expected the list to recover, but it didn't. I think for the reasons I mentioned. >> 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 don't think this is the case. I think the community has simply >stagnated. It happens. The world-design mailing list is clearly a case >of this. Haven't read it, so I can't really comment to that. I hate it when people say this, but I do know of at least one other old-timer who's a bit tired of the problems the list has been facing recently. And to be honest, I think Karen's actions are contributing to the lack of posting we've seen recently. >> That's the moderator's job...to provide support to his or her constituents >> (i.e. the list members). > >If the list members are going to be rude to us, I don't see that we have >any obligation to help them. I posted enough information for Jim to >figure out how to sign off and he responded by calling me a jerk and >complaining that I took over 24 hours to get around to responding to him. >And you expect me to give him service with a smile? > >Like Karen said... we're not paid, we're not "obligated" to do anything. Yeah, you are obligated, Carl. You took on the responsibility of moderating GMAST. That means service...I don't really care if its with a smile or a flame. It would've taken _much_ less time to post the directions in an e-mail message than it did to point at where he could've found it out himself. Egos were bruised, though, and he got some smarty replies that, I think, specifically avoided giving him the direct answers he was looking for. The point here is that it doesn't matter if you get paid...not everything's about money. You volunteered to host GMAST, thus taking on an obligation to maintain the spirit that it had previously enjoyed. People wanted to leave Stargame for two reasons...shitty service and a moderator who didn't quite understand what the list was all about. The service thing has been great since the move to Phoenix...no complaints there and a credit to you. The latter reason seemed rectified with the move to Phoenix...since then, evidence has started cropping up to contradict that. >> 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. > >In the golden age of Gmast, there was no moderator or even a listowner >that paid attention to the list. Yep...you say that like it was a bad thing. That's not to say you shouldn't pay attention to the list...only that you shouldn't moderate (again, beyond the technical issues mentioned previously). >Well, 'nuff of that. Announcement up next. Waiting. 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/
