The Clan thread has just changed so radically, and we're all running to catch up. I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but look... Fires of Salvation members and mods, two species separated by 65 million years of evolution have just been suddenly thrown back into the mix together. How can we possibly have the slightest idea what to expect?
But seriously, now that I’ve had a nap and can form a coherent thought from the comfort of a computer, I can put some real thought into a post.
The idea of a “treehouse site” isn’t new – it’s what our current Clan site is for. We even have a thread specifically for *****ing about moderators, trolls, and people we don’t ever want stepping foot into our Clan on that site. However, the problem is that the majority of the Clan members can’t access it from their jobs. Ham’s idea works if (and only if) it doesn’t get blocked by some of the FoS members’ job’s firewalls. I know that lorddax put a lot of hard work into making our FoS site, but its inaccessibility makes it convenient for us to stay on MTGS and do the majority of our venting here. Which has proven to be problematic.
While on one hand, the Red Mage in me does not want to be contained and follow rules. Hell, none of us do. I want to speak my mind when I want to without the Thought Police interfering. On the other hand, I realize that MTGS is not the FoS’s site. There are rules to be followed and, much to our Red Mage chagrin, structure to be maintained. FoS was birthed from a motley assortment of MTGS users – MTGS users that knew the ropes before committing and forming a Clan. Granted, we’ve all never agreed with most of the rules, but we’ve pretty much followed them before.
However, I’m not really shocked that all of this is happening right now. As Red Mages, we can all be impulsive and have some pretty fiery tempers. The fact that MTGS’s Red Mage Clan is pretty much in some hot water for flaming seems pretty fitting. I’m not trying to argue with whoever’s right or wrong. I can accept responsibility for my actions – yes, I flamed rivaltuna. Maybe not to his/her face, but nonetheless, I still did it and nothing will change that. I’m not sorry for doing it. I understand I broke a rule. I was punished. So be it.
From what I can understand, a Clan thread is supposed to be a place where its members can relax and talk non-MTG related things. For us, no subject is taboo. It’s like that episode of South Park where the writers for Family Guy were a bunch of manatees that picked random balls with words on it to string sentences together to make jokes – the minute one topic was considered “off-limits,” the whole thing failed. I hate comparing ourselves to manatees, but we need this kind of freedom. Red thrives on freedom and we embody that. To be told that you can talk about whatever you want except for dick jokes, women bashing, and about MTGS users who piss you off can really suck the wind out of our sails. Naturally, this stokes our Fire hotter. We get impulsive and say things in the moment that usually aren’t well thought out (except for photodyer; everything he writes is pure gold).
With what’s going on now, I really do see a divide between the FoS and the mods. It really is turning into a whole “us VS them” type deal. I can honestly say I truly see both sides of the argument. About 6 months ago, I got promoted at work. I’m now in a position of authority and I have to make decisions that affect more people than me. I have rules and policies to uphold and I’m pretty sure I’m less popular with some people now because of that. But you know what? I really don’t care about my popularity because I have a job to do and dammit, that job is gonna get done (cuz I’m a hustla, baby!). I see the mods in that same position. Granted, just like with management at my job, there are good ones and some really awful ones, but in the end there is always going to be that divide between the masses and the authority because one group has the power and the other group doesn’t. I don’t want a war with the moderators. It wouldn’t end well and I’m sure it would leave a bitter taste in everyone’s mouth.
We, as Red Mages, want to have our cake and to eat it too. Unfortunately, this rarely works out that way in life. But, with everyone’s suggestions, ideas, and working together, I think there may be a way in the future for us to do that. In the meantime, we need to focus on the situation at hand. I’m in full support of finding a “treehouse” that will accommodate all aspects of the FoS. We can still develop and nurture the R/x Forum. Who knows, maybe we can still have our thread here? But honestly, if we’re really going to cut loose and vent, it has to be done elsewhere. If we don’t, we’ll be right here again.
And in the meantime, I can hold my tongue and refrain from flaming somebody on this site.
One thing I would suggest to my brothers would be speaking up in the rules thread if there is such a thing to suggest changes to the site as nobody will know there is a problem if no one speaks up.
Ham's post reflects another option that might ultimately make best sense IF we want to continue to try to contribute to the community here an draw from it. If we were to allow the clan thread here to lapse and maintain it completely offsite at ham's, we could simply point to threads within the Rx forum from the clan site my way of discussion. Membership in the clan would regrettably be something that we would have to advert via sig links (if that is even legal here) or through direct pm'd invitations, but we would at least maintain the tie to Rx here. Even though it chafes my nethers to have to dance around spurious modding, I will admit that the same things that drew each of us to MTGS in the first place are valid reasons for maintaining the tie here. I think that if we move our clan discussion off to a truly open-voiced forum, we can likely get our venting done and come back over here and play by the rules with regards to reporting spurious posts and such rather than going vigilante on chowderheads and getting infracted for doing so.
Does this make sense to anyone else? I'm not trying to overinflate my worth or anyone else's but I would like to see the Rx forum continue to strive for excellence. I just want to know that we can step outside and safely air our opinions before addressing issues within the forum.
I think ham's offer--a site that has no other administration and will be self-policing by nature (and not tied to a gaming site such that some of us get firewalled out) is the best option for the freedom we desire.
I don't want "redthirst lite" either. Phone posting sucks. That's why my posts have become shorter and shorter as I've been working more. :/
edit: go look at mtg vault forums. what do you think?
it's powered by vbulletin....just saiyan'.
2nd edit: "By agreeing to these rules, you warrant that you will not post any messages that are obscene, vulgar, sexually-oriented, hateful, threatening, or otherwise violative of any laws.
The owners of MTG Vault Forums reserve the right to remove, edit, move or close any thread for any reason."
Never mind. same problems we'll encounter there I'm sure...
MTG Community - I know they're less strict with moderation, but the community is small.
TCG Player or mtgfanatic - no clue about moderation, but the community is larger
Pojo - no clue about moderation, but the community is huge
Any of those look like possibilities to anyone else?
Man, I really don't like any of these options. But if I had to pick one, MTG Community is probably the site where we'd encounter the least amount of bull****.
I feel that if we decide to "play nice, " then that would only be a temporary fix. We'll only get out of line again and we'll be right back where we are now.
Then we are not only on different pages but in different books.
My feelings are that this clan, as a whole, is a square peg and MTGS is a round hole - now, the hole isn't going to change its shape any time soon so we can either change ourselves or find another hole.
My opinion is that we shouldn't have to change who we are to fit in here if we could simply go somewhere that we already fit in.
That being said, I will respect whatever the consensus of the whole clan is.
Suggestions on where to migrate?
Private Mod Note
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I'm in love with it already. Also, no censorship!
Unbelievable.
The gods know I've tried...and failed.
You too, huh?
But seriously, now that I’ve had a nap and can form a coherent thought from the comfort of a computer, I can put some real thought into a post.
The idea of a “treehouse site” isn’t new – it’s what our current Clan site is for. We even have a thread specifically for *****ing about moderators, trolls, and people we don’t ever want stepping foot into our Clan on that site. However, the problem is that the majority of the Clan members can’t access it from their jobs. Ham’s idea works if (and only if) it doesn’t get blocked by some of the FoS members’ job’s firewalls. I know that lorddax put a lot of hard work into making our FoS site, but its inaccessibility makes it convenient for us to stay on MTGS and do the majority of our venting here. Which has proven to be problematic.
While on one hand, the Red Mage in me does not want to be contained and follow rules. Hell, none of us do. I want to speak my mind when I want to without the Thought Police interfering. On the other hand, I realize that MTGS is not the FoS’s site. There are rules to be followed and, much to our Red Mage chagrin, structure to be maintained. FoS was birthed from a motley assortment of MTGS users – MTGS users that knew the ropes before committing and forming a Clan. Granted, we’ve all never agreed with most of the rules, but we’ve pretty much followed them before.
However, I’m not really shocked that all of this is happening right now. As Red Mages, we can all be impulsive and have some pretty fiery tempers. The fact that MTGS’s Red Mage Clan is pretty much in some hot water for flaming seems pretty fitting. I’m not trying to argue with whoever’s right or wrong. I can accept responsibility for my actions – yes, I flamed rivaltuna. Maybe not to his/her face, but nonetheless, I still did it and nothing will change that. I’m not sorry for doing it. I understand I broke a rule. I was punished. So be it.
From what I can understand, a Clan thread is supposed to be a place where its members can relax and talk non-MTG related things. For us, no subject is taboo. It’s like that episode of South Park where the writers for Family Guy were a bunch of manatees that picked random balls with words on it to string sentences together to make jokes – the minute one topic was considered “off-limits,” the whole thing failed. I hate comparing ourselves to manatees, but we need this kind of freedom. Red thrives on freedom and we embody that. To be told that you can talk about whatever you want except for dick jokes, women bashing, and about MTGS users who piss you off can really suck the wind out of our sails. Naturally, this stokes our Fire hotter. We get impulsive and say things in the moment that usually aren’t well thought out (except for photodyer; everything he writes is pure gold).
With what’s going on now, I really do see a divide between the FoS and the mods. It really is turning into a whole “us VS them” type deal. I can honestly say I truly see both sides of the argument. About 6 months ago, I got promoted at work. I’m now in a position of authority and I have to make decisions that affect more people than me. I have rules and policies to uphold and I’m pretty sure I’m less popular with some people now because of that. But you know what? I really don’t care about my popularity because I have a job to do and dammit, that job is gonna get done (cuz I’m a hustla, baby!). I see the mods in that same position. Granted, just like with management at my job, there are good ones and some really awful ones, but in the end there is always going to be that divide between the masses and the authority because one group has the power and the other group doesn’t. I don’t want a war with the moderators. It wouldn’t end well and I’m sure it would leave a bitter taste in everyone’s mouth.
We, as Red Mages, want to have our cake and to eat it too. Unfortunately, this rarely works out that way in life. But, with everyone’s suggestions, ideas, and working together, I think there may be a way in the future for us to do that. In the meantime, we need to focus on the situation at hand. I’m in full support of finding a “treehouse” that will accommodate all aspects of the FoS. We can still develop and nurture the R/x Forum. Who knows, maybe we can still have our thread here? But honestly, if we’re really going to cut loose and vent, it has to be done elsewhere. If we don’t, we’ll be right here again.
And in the meantime, I can hold my tongue and refrain from flaming somebody on this site.
Edit:
Check out the big brain on LK!
I like this a lot. And I really think we should.
This is well thought out, photo. I like it.
edit: go look at mtg vault forums. what do you think?
it's powered by vbulletin....just saiyan'.
2nd edit: "By agreeing to these rules, you warrant that you will not post any messages that are obscene, vulgar, sexually-oriented, hateful, threatening, or otherwise violative of any laws.
The owners of MTG Vault Forums reserve the right to remove, edit, move or close any thread for any reason."
Never mind. same problems we'll encounter there I'm sure...
Man, I really don't like any of these options. But if I had to pick one, MTG Community is probably the site where we'd encounter the least amount of bull****.
Suggestions on where to migrate?