Compared to other hobby forums I have been on (for example, photography, other games, programming), this forum has an absurdly high relative ratio of warnings/infractions/moderator activity/long lists of rules of questionable utility but ironfisted enforcement/etc.
I'm not saying the staff is unfair or cruel. As of this moment, I don't think I have received or seen any warnings or infractions that looked technically, to-the-letter WRONG in terms of precisely whether they broke a rule or not. The mods seem to be doing decently in terms of interpretations and detail-orientedness. However, I have seen a huge number of warnings/infractions that don't look like they really improve the community in any noticeable way. Which I guess I would call more of a an overall misguided culture? Or something like that.
I would humbly suggest that the staff widely re-evaluate the enforcement policies of the site to change this culture. Currently the procedure seems to be to place most of the discretion on the rules themselves:
1) Look at each post (or ones that are reported or whatever you do).
2) Does this literally break any rules?
3) If yes, take action.
I would suggest an alternative strategy of:
1) Look at posts that people report or whatever.
2) Ask oneself
2a) "Does this threaten or decrease people's enjoyment of Magic?"
2b) "Does this threaten or decrease our sense of community mutual respect or safety (illegality, flaming, harrassment, threats, etc.)?"
2c) "Is anybody actually a victim here at all, currently or potentially?"
3) If none of the above are true, don't worry about it, even if it might break a written rule.
4) If at least one of the above is true, THEN cehck to see if it breaks a written rule.
5) If it also does break a written rule, take action.
This way, any warnings or infractions that do occur STILL have a solid, factual basis insofar as the rule that was technically broken. This ensures that appeals and discussions can still occur very systematically and in a controlled, accountable fashion.
But it also adds a discretionary filter in front, to (hopefully vastly) cut down on the number of random citations for random rules whose breaking didn't actually cause any harm and never needed to be dealt with in the first place.
It makes it so that if you don't technically break any rules, that's still enough to feel safe. But also if you just act like a decent human being, that's ALSO almost always enough to feel safe, even if not worrying every post about whether you pass 20 different minor rule requirements. Leading to a more comfortable and less oppressive feeling community without actually creating any real new problems.
And it is still completely fair to everybody, too, because the same step by step procedure is used on everybody, and the subjective portion is only used for leniency, not for punishment.
Anyway, just my two cents on how to make this place more inviting to newcomers like myself. Thanks for reading.
-Crimeo
Yo bro. I totally get you. The forums were so harsh.
When I joined. Then I "matured".
You get used to it. Kinda like an american moving to Canada "but they won't let me keep my gun" you don't need it and you'll get used to it.
As long as you don't treat this like it's 4chan and learn to avoid certain things (there are certains forums I never visit due to mods) you'll be fine. You'll get used to it. Think of a few first warnings like scrapes on your knee as you learn to pedal.
Those rules are there for a reason. They need to be applied to the letter when a forum grows above a certain size.
...from a new guy who just got suspended, appealed the suspension successfully, and posts 10+ times per day in the little time he's been here. It's a totally understandable point of view and presented in a manner that seems openly interested in dialogue.
@Crimeo - The way you suggest we approach things is actually how we do it. There is always the question of "Does this really matter to the people here?" in our minds as we write the rules, and discuss questionable content. I know there are detractors, but we've made some huge cultural shifts on the staff level over the last 2 years that have been looking at exactly what you are talking about.
Yes I agree the system is fair and I'm sure it is great at making sure everybody's gripe about any post is met with maximal effectiveness.
But I'm suggesting that these are not very lofty goals to be reaching for. Fairness is a pretty low bar to clear. Kicking everybody in the shins as they walk in the door would be "fair." But in and of itself it is not much to strive for. Same goes for making sure that everybody in one certain population (readers of posts) are satisfied, at the arbitrarily large expense of the opposite population (posters of posts). It's trivially easy to protect one group absolutely. <---(edit: not saying either of these is how you operate, just making rhetorical points.)
Balanced protection is much harder, as is fairness that is achieved by minimal intervention.
I don't know exactly what else to suggest. All I know is that on almost every other forum I go on, people treat each other fine and the place runs smoothly, and yet you barely notice the mods are there. And that for some reason this forum is dramatically different.
SOMETHING is going on with the setup here, and it's not due to the generic or fundamental nature of running a forum, because it's not a universal phenomenon.
You don't see enough "mod's are harsh" threads on most forums to ellicit the sort of reaction you just had when somebody posts another one.
@Crimeo - The way you suggest we approach things is actually how we do it.
I am very glad to hear that. But if it isn't that, then something else is going on. I mean, it is indeed possible that you guys have nothing to do with it, and the people who play magic are just for some reason way more rambunctious than people who photograph things.
SOMETHING is going on with the setup here, and it's not due to the generic or fundamental nature of running a forum, because it's not a universal phenomenon.
And it's most definitely not universal to this forum either. Not many users show up, post 10 times per day, and get suspended for proxy discussion... it's not common at all.
You don't see enough "mod's are harsh thread" on most forums to ellicit the sort of reaction you just had when somebody posts another one.
Or, we actually haven't seen one in a long time and he's being a bit dramatic. They used to happen monthly with lots of ragey screaming. They don't now.
I am very glad to hear that. But if it isn't that, then something else is going on. I mean, it is indeed possible that you guys have nothing to do with it, and the people who play magic are just for some reason way more rambunctious than people who photograph things.
Shrug. Maybe. Seems unlikely, but maybe.
We have a lot of people visiting the site. It's very likely that it's just a matter of population size. I'm sure the staff are part of it to some extent, but we are talking about a public space without a lot of filters that allows people to do what they want... except that we aren't looking for a free for all.
And it's most definitely not universal to this forum either. Not many users show up, post 10 times per day, and get suspended for proxy discussion... it's not common at all.
(Well I am basing this not off of just me but having browsed through a lot of the records of other people on here and the timing/density thereof versus the amount of activity on the forum, whilst I was bored. You keep unusually thorough records).
Anyway, okie. I don't really have much else to say. Just one guy. I'm sure this thread will be remembered if other pile up. If not, then I'm just a weirdo. I'll leave it there.
I am very glad to hear that. But if it isn't that, then something else is going on. I mean, it is indeed possible that you guys have nothing to do with it, and the people who play magic are just for some reason way more rambunctious than people who photograph things.
Shrug. Maybe. Seems unlikely, but maybe.
I think that may be precisely it. Being a MTG player is almost exclusively a subset of being a gamer in general, and anyone who has ever had the audio on while someone was playing a multiplayer game with strangers knows the vile things that gamers can spout when their identity is protected. Whereas photography is probably discussed by a pretty good cross-section of society, gamers (especially ones that play MTG and table-top games) are much more likely to be people who have been marginalized by popular society. This is amplified by the medium of a large internet forum, and the result is that the people who come here are probably more likely to push at the boundaries of courtesy and respect.
Other factors, such as the predominant male nature of the population (guys around other guys tend to push things more than when females are added to the mix in significant numbers), and people who have shame around this hobby contribute as well.
I would have to agree, I think the mods here can be a bit quick to fire the infraction cannon and swing the banhammer around more than needed. I recently was suspended and had the suspension overturned before I even logged in to see that I was suspended. I LIKE it here, I dont want to be recklessly banned because some mod is having an off day. Honestly I feel things changed when Curse took over, the entire mod tone changed.
I would have to agree, I think the mods here can be a bit quick to fire the infraction cannon and swing the banhammer around more than needed. I recently was suspended and had the suspension overturned before I even logged in to see that I was suspended. I LIKE it here, I dont want to be recklessly banned because some mod is having an off day. Honestly I feel things changed when Curse took over, the entire mod tone changed.
The reason your suspension was reversed so quickly is because we try to have multiple people looking over things. There are mistakes and misunderstandings but in the cases hinted at here, we saw something where we could give the benefit of the doubt to you and we opted for that.
I'd be curious to know more about your connection to Curse taking over and the mod tone changing. Since Curse has no input or influence on the site (they appear to like how we do things and let us do things the way we want), I feel no external pressure. So, what changed?
I feel that I personally have been treated fairly and that rules aren't hard to follow. There are occasions when I come across a post made by someone else tagged as infracted for trolling. Half the time, that's not even the case, it just appears to be used as a blanket term for posting something grumpy.
Recently the axe came down on some people who generally posted insightful perspectives on a lot of Magic-related things... for the way they acted more casually in Off-Topic threads. I have to admit, occasionally I'm bummed to see people go just for being a little colorful.
I've been a member here for a while, but I don't post nearly as much as some other users. I had an infraction that was a bit too far into the subjective part of the carding system and I was able to get it reversed by an Admin. Fairly simple and the mod who got reversed didn't hold a grudge. I think that the staff here works their collective butts off for no money so that we can have a better place to communicate. After all that, we get several threads a year about the staff being too harsh, too quick with cards, banning people unreasonably, etc. We don't see Thank You threads to the staff, but they damn well deserve some praise.
I have seen people get banned and others ***** incessantly about it. Some of those whiners also find themselves on the wrong end of the banhammer. Good. Being productive in one area of the forum while being a colossal asshat in another area generally doesn't make for a productive member of the community in my opinion. Some long-time members got the boot over the past year, and I truly believe we are all better for it. When the same group of people constantly ***** in CI and other areas because they perceive some personal slight from a mod, they really don't need to hang around. Seems to me that being forcibly removed from the site is probably a good thing for some people as it appeared that a stroke was forthcoming for several former members.
At the end of all of this, the staff here puts up with abuse, long hours, no pay, and very little gratitude. They endure this so that we have a civil place in which to produce productive discourse on our favorite game and larger life issues. I think its going quite well.
You don't see enough "mod's are harsh" threads on most forums to ellicit the sort of reaction you just had when somebody posts another one.
Ehh, I've seen stuff like that on other forums. Bear in mind, many smaller forums don't have enough issues going on to warrant much moderator action. Many larger forums are so tightly controlled that you wouldn't be able to post any thread complaining about mods without said thread being swiftly deleted by said mods. Every forum is different.
Back before I was a mod, I got carded a few times, myself. Most of them were warranted, but the few that weren't got overturned after a timely appeal on the card issuer's helpdesk. We do our best to be prompt and enforce the rules and we actually pretty frequently discuss whether or not certain posts should be carded (a la toeing the line or what have you). Each Mod has authority over their domain, but we're all open to feedback, especially from the users.
2011: Best Mafia Performance (Individual) - Best Newcomer
2012: Best (False?) Role Claim - Worst Town Performance (Group) - Best Mafia Performance (Group) - Best SK Performance - Best Overall Player
2013: Best Non-SK Neutral Performance
2014: Best Town Performance (Individual) - Best Town Performance (Group) - Most Interesting Role - Best Game - Best Overall Player
2015: Worst Mafia Performance (Group) - Best Read
2016: Best Town Performance (Group) - Best Town Player - Best Overall Player
Most enforcement systems aren't perfect, but the mods at MTGS try so, SO hard to devote time to every individual's needs. There is are so many unpaid volunteers here who will debate each other for days over whether a rule needs to change and whether someone truly violated the spirit of a rule.
Imagine if your local police put the system on trial every third parking ticket. That would be a shocker for paid professionals, and yet I've seen volunteers here get invested on that level for people they don't know.
The kind of... baffling thing about this, is that this much care is spent on a system where getting in trouble does nothing. There is no boot on your car that comes after two red cards. No 80 dollar fine that comes in the mail after a week suspension. You could get in the any amount of trouble on this forum, and your actual life would be no different.
These mods care so much about the users, and if this forum is so important to someone that they feel the mods still aren't doing enough for them, then they are spending too much time on here.
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I'll be sad if people don't start calling The Chain Veil "Fleetwood Mac."
I used this site mainly for the Trades section. After a while, I attempted to move out in other areas but ended up with unnecessary warnings. I hardly post anything and just stick with being a lurker. Using online forums shouldn't be so tedious. IMO.
I used this site mainly for the Trades section. After a while, I attempted to move out in other areas but ended up with unnecessary warnings. I hardly post anything and just stick with being a lurker. Using online forums shouldn't be so tedious. IMO.
For what it's worth, you only have that one warning for something a lot of people don't get quite right. It's why we issue non-punitive warnings like that - we have some obscure rules and need you to follow them. You really appear to be a totally okay user and it's unfortunate that one rules notification gives you a bad taste.
As a veteran of when this forum was actually harsh, I have to admit that I chuckle ever so lightly when newer users complain about how terribly harsh the forum is now. The current state of things is practically placid harmony compared with the way things were for the first six or so years of the site. I mean, I didn't mind things then and even contributed to running things that way, but to hear complaints about the current state when I remember that is just a bit funny.
The mods now do an incredible job of governing the forum fairly, and give unprecedented consideration to users and policy debate. This is truly not harsh, though I can sympathize with more sensitive users who see it that way. Yes, there are rules to follow, but they are relatively easy to learn and the staff a very approachable. Everyone makes mistakes, the trick is to learn from them.
I used this site mainly for the Trades section. After a while, I attempted to move out in other areas but ended up with unnecessary warnings. I hardly post anything and just stick with being a lurker. Using online forums shouldn't be so tedious. IMO.
This. (Can I make a post like this? I feel like if I posted just 'this', I would be tagged, so, I have instead elected to put this little explanation in here just so I don't get a warning/infraction/etc)
This. (Can I make a post like this? I feel like if I posted just 'this', I would be tagged, so, I have instead elected to put this little explanation in here just so I don't get a warning/infraction/etc)
If you only post to agree with another user without also explaining why you feel the way you do or expand upon the quoted user's points, it's preferable that you just thank them - there's a "Thank you" button to the left of the post that can either be used to show that you're grateful for a post, or to support the poster's points. Though in this case, it would be useful to us to hear why you feel that way!
It is probably not going to be a huge shock that I agree with Galspanic, Promatim and mikey, and mostly like the way we're doing things (with some minor exceptions), and that after pretty regular reviewing of most of our rules during the past couple of years we're in a pretty good place right now, for the most part. But we're always looking to improve. So I'll take the opportunity to thank the OP for polite criticism
One of the changes in the recent past is that most penalties for non-disruptive behavior is scaled down, while penalties for personal attacks are scaled up. So like Galspanic said, we're actually following your advice already, to an extent. For example, previously it was so that you would automatically get a suspension and your thread taken down if you were to advertise anything, even if what you advertised turned out to be rather helpful to the forum. Now we do allow advertising your stuff if it is a product/service/something that we figure the users would actually appreciate. Basically, we use much more discretion than we used to in the past, and way more often than in the past, the baseline penalty is scaled down. It's not all smiles though, since mod discretion can make it tricky for users to figure out exactly what we allow and what we won't. But you could always ask if you're unsure.
The reason your suspension was reversed so quickly is because we try to have multiple people looking over things. There are mistakes and misunderstandings but in the cases hinted at here, we saw something where we could give the benefit of the doubt to you and we opted for that.
I'd be curious to know more about your connection to Curse taking over and the mod tone changing. Since Curse has no input or influence on the site (they appear to like how we do things and let us do things the way we want), I feel no external pressure. So, what changed?
I'm guessing that he's scapegoating curse, as I haven't noticed anything different in regards to moderation of the site since curse took over the site.
What mikeyG said is also true. Site is fine, I haven't had issue for quite a while. Rules are rules and if we didn't have any I shudder to think of what the forum would look like today.
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"Yawgmoth," Freyalise whispered as she set the bomb, "now you will pay for your treachery."
Or, we actually haven't seen one in a long time and he's being a bit dramatic. They used to happen monthly with lots of ragey screaming. They don't now.
Haven't had one in a while because most of the folks who were complaining about the way the site was being run have been banned and/or have left because their friends were banned.
Back on topic, I actually believe that most of moderation on this site, at this point, is fair. On a VERY ironic point, I recently met one of the former moderators of this website, someone who I viewed with distaste due to how they ran their portion of the forum. I didn't know that it was them when I met them in person, had a great time in their company for the day, and now have mixed feelings about my problem with them.
All forums have their quirks, and I guess that some folks needs to learn to ignore/put up with the parts they don't like and focus on the parts they do, as nothing in this life will ever exactly perfect to how they want it to be.
Marth
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I'm not saying the staff is unfair or cruel. As of this moment, I don't think I have received or seen any warnings or infractions that looked technically, to-the-letter WRONG in terms of precisely whether they broke a rule or not. The mods seem to be doing decently in terms of interpretations and detail-orientedness. However, I have seen a huge number of warnings/infractions that don't look like they really improve the community in any noticeable way. Which I guess I would call more of a an overall misguided culture? Or something like that.
I would humbly suggest that the staff widely re-evaluate the enforcement policies of the site to change this culture. Currently the procedure seems to be to place most of the discretion on the rules themselves:
1) Look at each post (or ones that are reported or whatever you do).
2) Does this literally break any rules?
3) If yes, take action.
I would suggest an alternative strategy of:
1) Look at posts that people report or whatever.
2) Ask oneself
2a) "Does this threaten or decrease people's enjoyment of Magic?"
2b) "Does this threaten or decrease our sense of community mutual respect or safety (illegality, flaming, harrassment, threats, etc.)?"
2c) "Is anybody actually a victim here at all, currently or potentially?"
3) If none of the above are true, don't worry about it, even if it might break a written rule.
4) If at least one of the above is true, THEN cehck to see if it breaks a written rule.
5) If it also does break a written rule, take action.
This way, any warnings or infractions that do occur STILL have a solid, factual basis insofar as the rule that was technically broken. This ensures that appeals and discussions can still occur very systematically and in a controlled, accountable fashion.
But it also adds a discretionary filter in front, to (hopefully vastly) cut down on the number of random citations for random rules whose breaking didn't actually cause any harm and never needed to be dealt with in the first place.
It makes it so that if you don't technically break any rules, that's still enough to feel safe. But also if you just act like a decent human being, that's ALSO almost always enough to feel safe, even if not worrying every post about whether you pass 20 different minor rule requirements. Leading to a more comfortable and less oppressive feeling community without actually creating any real new problems.
And it is still completely fair to everybody, too, because the same step by step procedure is used on everybody, and the subjective portion is only used for leniency, not for punishment.
Anyway, just my two cents on how to make this place more inviting to newcomers like myself. Thanks for reading.
-Crimeo
When I joined. Then I "matured".
You get used to it. Kinda like an american moving to Canada "but they won't let me keep my gun" you don't need it and you'll get used to it.
As long as you don't treat this like it's 4chan and learn to avoid certain things (there are certains forums I never visit due to mods) you'll be fine. You'll get used to it. Think of a few first warnings like scrapes on your knee as you learn to pedal.
Those rules are there for a reason. They need to be applied to the letter when a forum grows above a certain size.
*sigh*
Thanks to GR @ Yavin IV Studios for the signature!
...from a new guy who just got suspended, appealed the suspension successfully, and posts 10+ times per day in the little time he's been here. It's a totally understandable point of view and presented in a manner that seems openly interested in dialogue.
@Crimeo - The way you suggest we approach things is actually how we do it. There is always the question of "Does this really matter to the people here?" in our minds as we write the rules, and discuss questionable content. I know there are detractors, but we've made some huge cultural shifts on the staff level over the last 2 years that have been looking at exactly what you are talking about.
WUBRGPauper Battle BoxWUBRG ... and why I am not a fan of Wayne Reynolds' Illustrations.
But I'm suggesting that these are not very lofty goals to be reaching for. Fairness is a pretty low bar to clear. Kicking everybody in the shins as they walk in the door would be "fair." But in and of itself it is not much to strive for. Same goes for making sure that everybody in one certain population (readers of posts) are satisfied, at the arbitrarily large expense of the opposite population (posters of posts). It's trivially easy to protect one group absolutely. <---(edit: not saying either of these is how you operate, just making rhetorical points.)
Balanced protection is much harder, as is fairness that is achieved by minimal intervention.
I don't know exactly what else to suggest. All I know is that on almost every other forum I go on, people treat each other fine and the place runs smoothly, and yet you barely notice the mods are there. And that for some reason this forum is dramatically different.
SOMETHING is going on with the setup here, and it's not due to the generic or fundamental nature of running a forum, because it's not a universal phenomenon.
...Exactly.
You don't see enough "mod's are harsh" threads on most forums to ellicit the sort of reaction you just had when somebody posts another one.
I am very glad to hear that. But if it isn't that, then something else is going on. I mean, it is indeed possible that you guys have nothing to do with it, and the people who play magic are just for some reason way more rambunctious than people who photograph things.
Shrug. Maybe. Seems unlikely, but maybe.
And it's most definitely not universal to this forum either. Not many users show up, post 10 times per day, and get suspended for proxy discussion... it's not common at all.
Or, we actually haven't seen one in a long time and he's being a bit dramatic. They used to happen monthly with lots of ragey screaming. They don't now.
We have a lot of people visiting the site. It's very likely that it's just a matter of population size. I'm sure the staff are part of it to some extent, but we are talking about a public space without a lot of filters that allows people to do what they want... except that we aren't looking for a free for all.
WUBRGPauper Battle BoxWUBRG ... and why I am not a fan of Wayne Reynolds' Illustrations.
(Well I am basing this not off of just me but having browsed through a lot of the records of other people on here and the timing/density thereof versus the amount of activity on the forum, whilst I was bored. You keep unusually thorough records).
Anyway, okie. I don't really have much else to say. Just one guy. I'm sure this thread will be remembered if other pile up. If not, then I'm just a weirdo. I'll leave it there.
Thanks for the consideration!
― Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential
I will always firmly stand by the belief that Magic is a game first and a collectable second.
Other factors, such as the predominant male nature of the population (guys around other guys tend to push things more than when females are added to the mix in significant numbers), and people who have shame around this hobby contribute as well.
Reprint Opt for Modern!!
FREE DIG THOROUGH TIME!
PLAY MORE ROUGE DECKS!
The reason your suspension was reversed so quickly is because we try to have multiple people looking over things. There are mistakes and misunderstandings but in the cases hinted at here, we saw something where we could give the benefit of the doubt to you and we opted for that.
I'd be curious to know more about your connection to Curse taking over and the mod tone changing. Since Curse has no input or influence on the site (they appear to like how we do things and let us do things the way we want), I feel no external pressure. So, what changed?
WUBRGPauper Battle BoxWUBRG ... and why I am not a fan of Wayne Reynolds' Illustrations.
Recently the axe came down on some people who generally posted insightful perspectives on a lot of Magic-related things... for the way they acted more casually in Off-Topic threads. I have to admit, occasionally I'm bummed to see people go just for being a little colorful.
I have seen people get banned and others ***** incessantly about it. Some of those whiners also find themselves on the wrong end of the banhammer. Good. Being productive in one area of the forum while being a colossal asshat in another area generally doesn't make for a productive member of the community in my opinion. Some long-time members got the boot over the past year, and I truly believe we are all better for it. When the same group of people constantly ***** in CI and other areas because they perceive some personal slight from a mod, they really don't need to hang around. Seems to me that being forcibly removed from the site is probably a good thing for some people as it appeared that a stroke was forthcoming for several former members.
At the end of all of this, the staff here puts up with abuse, long hours, no pay, and very little gratitude. They endure this so that we have a civil place in which to produce productive discourse on our favorite game and larger life issues. I think its going quite well.
(I speak not about those I've not met.)
I love you guys. :3
Ehh, I've seen stuff like that on other forums. Bear in mind, many smaller forums don't have enough issues going on to warrant much moderator action. Many larger forums are so tightly controlled that you wouldn't be able to post any thread complaining about mods without said thread being swiftly deleted by said mods. Every forum is different.
{мы, тьма}
2012: Best (False?) Role Claim - Worst Town Performance (Group) - Best Mafia Performance (Group) - Best SK Performance - Best Overall Player
2013: Best Non-SK Neutral Performance
2014: Best Town Performance (Individual) - Best Town Performance (Group) - Most Interesting Role - Best Game - Best Overall Player
2015: Worst Mafia Performance (Group) - Best Read
2016: Best Town Performance (Group) - Best Town Player - Best Overall Player
Imagine if your local police put the system on trial every third parking ticket. That would be a shocker for paid professionals, and yet I've seen volunteers here get invested on that level for people they don't know.
The kind of... baffling thing about this, is that this much care is spent on a system where getting in trouble does nothing. There is no boot on your car that comes after two red cards. No 80 dollar fine that comes in the mail after a week suspension. You could get in the any amount of trouble on this forum, and your actual life would be no different.
These mods care so much about the users, and if this forum is so important to someone that they feel the mods still aren't doing enough for them, then they are spending too much time on here.
I used this site mainly for the Trades section. After a while, I attempted to move out in other areas but ended up with unnecessary warnings. I hardly post anything and just stick with being a lurker. Using online forums shouldn't be so tedious. IMO.
For what it's worth, you only have that one warning for something a lot of people don't get quite right. It's why we issue non-punitive warnings like that - we have some obscure rules and need you to follow them. You really appear to be a totally okay user and it's unfortunate that one rules notification gives you a bad taste.
WUBRGPauper Battle BoxWUBRG ... and why I am not a fan of Wayne Reynolds' Illustrations.
The mods now do an incredible job of governing the forum fairly, and give unprecedented consideration to users and policy debate. This is truly not harsh, though I can sympathize with more sensitive users who see it that way. Yes, there are rules to follow, but they are relatively easy to learn and the staff a very approachable. Everyone makes mistakes, the trick is to learn from them.
Archatmos
Excellion
Fracture: Israfiel (WBR), Wujal (URG), Valedon (GUB), Amduat (BGW), Paladris (RWU)
Collision (Set Two of the Fracture Block)
Quest for the Forsaken (Set Two of the Excellion Block)
Katingal: Plane of Chains
This. (Can I make a post like this? I feel like if I posted just 'this', I would be tagged, so, I have instead elected to put this little explanation in here just so I don't get a warning/infraction/etc)
If you only post to agree with another user without also explaining why you feel the way you do or expand upon the quoted user's points, it's preferable that you just thank them - there's a "Thank you" button to the left of the post that can either be used to show that you're grateful for a post, or to support the poster's points. Though in this case, it would be useful to us to hear why you feel that way!
It is probably not going to be a huge shock that I agree with Galspanic, Promatim and mikey, and mostly like the way we're doing things (with some minor exceptions), and that after pretty regular reviewing of most of our rules during the past couple of years we're in a pretty good place right now, for the most part. But we're always looking to improve. So I'll take the opportunity to thank the OP for polite criticism
One of the changes in the recent past is that most penalties for non-disruptive behavior is scaled down, while penalties for personal attacks are scaled up. So like Galspanic said, we're actually following your advice already, to an extent. For example, previously it was so that you would automatically get a suspension and your thread taken down if you were to advertise anything, even if what you advertised turned out to be rather helpful to the forum. Now we do allow advertising your stuff if it is a product/service/something that we figure the users would actually appreciate. Basically, we use much more discretion than we used to in the past, and way more often than in the past, the baseline penalty is scaled down. It's not all smiles though, since mod discretion can make it tricky for users to figure out exactly what we allow and what we won't. But you could always ask if you're unsure.
I'm guessing that he's scapegoating curse, as I haven't noticed anything different in regards to moderation of the site since curse took over the site.
What mikeyG said is also true. Site is fine, I haven't had issue for quite a while. Rules are rules and if we didn't have any I shudder to think of what the forum would look like today.
Currently Playing:
Retired
Haven't had one in a while because most of the folks who were complaining about the way the site was being run have been banned and/or have left because their friends were banned.
Back on topic, I actually believe that most of moderation on this site, at this point, is fair. On a VERY ironic point, I recently met one of the former moderators of this website, someone who I viewed with distaste due to how they ran their portion of the forum. I didn't know that it was them when I met them in person, had a great time in their company for the day, and now have mixed feelings about my problem with them.
All forums have their quirks, and I guess that some folks needs to learn to ignore/put up with the parts they don't like and focus on the parts they do, as nothing in this life will ever exactly perfect to how they want it to be.
Marth