Voting to retire the clan? I guess 4 votes is the majority now. I'm sorry to see you guys go. If you choose to start a new clan sometime later, feel free to PM me.
Bad beats Charlie, but congrats on getting wastelands. I need them for my rock deck but don't have the money to buy them any time soon.
Anyone have any thoughts to this upcoming prerelease? I've not really looked at the cards and don't have much interest, but enthusiasm and excitement from my clan may entice me to go.
I'm guessing my Modern Dual lands are going to be worthless because of this set. ....great.
Anyone in the clan play starcraft? I've been playing a lot of it in the last two weeks. I really suck at it, but am getting better.
@Votan, +1 to that. We appreciate being kept up by ya'll.
Does this mean we clan moderators are supposed to keep up with site wide shenanigans as a whole?
....pick a guild?...well that's easy, Golgari. The truest representation of nature, whats natural, and life in general. ...But I haven't touched my magic cards since December. I used to always frequent prereleases at the very least, but I don't feel very motivated. How do you guys feel about this set thus far?
Anyway onto main point, I agree that the mods may have bent to users will too much, but I also think that some mods are overstepping their bounds (I think a big one of these is Arc's "scumbag comments"...
Probably true on both fronts. I'm not really sure how evenly you can paint the entire staff. Some are passionate, some might be on a powertrip, and some might mean well but simply have a different philosophy. My own style is rather laid back and low key. If something is borderline I typically go "meh" and move on. One of the reasons you rarely see me post anywhere. Plus clans is very good at self maintenance and self policing. We've only had maybe 3 drama bombs since I've been here, and they've only lasted a few days. Gotta say, I'm quite pleased with our little sub-community.
Now there might be a large number of our staff that is a certain way...but I wouldn't know anything about it. As far as I can tell, our turnover rate at the moment is surprisingly and disturbingly high. Just saw Sene step down, a surprise as i thought people liked him.
Some of the current drama might be stemming from the fact that the proposed sell was instantly leaked to the gutter within hours of the staff being told. As far as I know, the culprit was never found, but it did start the whole Gaddafi photothon we have going on.
Anyway, I just thought I'd drop by and make a comment or two. Didn't mean to start a general discussion about moderators. If you want indepth and often random discussion about mods, go to CI. If you wish to protect your sanity, avoid CI.
Now I just noticed the entire spoiler for the next set is released. Means the prerelease is coming soon. I best look to see when that is.
Perhaps....could be me though. I think I'm talking about the right topic, but then I didn't even know my friend Kpaca and others were banned until I saw these posts yesterday. I deliberately avoid the CI section. It has nothing to do with Clans and mostly it's a place for drama hoarding. I don't know how real or how large any of the drama in CI is, but if you spend too much time in there you'll start to believe that every little topic might possibly be a site wide calamity.
A couple of your threads about the Curse sell were deleted for a few minutes and then replaced.
@Dimir, Hmmm....I didn't know this was happening. Looks like you guys and I may have been discussing different things.
@Macius. I believe you have the correct user, Subterranean Spirit. And I think you are right that he was changing things to his designs, within his right since he (or his employer?) purchased the site. Within our right to leave. If he had more foresight he might not have shot himself in the foot.
...funny how five or so years can cloud the memory. There are gaps in my thoughts....I recall SS banning very popular members such as Rancored Elf and Urzasseddatives and anyone who mentioned the name salvation. But this was after the exodus had started. There's something between when SS became admin and the banning for mentioning salvation took place that caused the bulk of the tension. I think it was something to do with fundamentals of the site, but I'm not sure there. SS did accuse Rancored elf of steeling (an accusation that I don't believe)...this was a fight over the amount donated to initially save news in the first place. I don't know how much was donated and where it went.
Quote from macius »
Im starting to notice that more and more here as time goes on...
Perhaps we view the site differently. It is my view that the staff as a whole has catered and capitulated too much to various whims and special interests of members. Certainly an open mind and a listening ear are needed, but the more the staff plays at full disclosure and making everyone "feel" like everything is "fair" the more members think that they deserve all the information on everything. It does annoy me a bit when the staff bends over backwards so much that we fall on ourselves...then we rashly stand back up, brush ourselves off, and try to act like that's what we wanted...which tends to make things worse. I think how the gutter was handled is a perfect example of this. (this is not a pro or anti gutter statement, just a meta-observation of how it has been handled over the past few years)
Wanna know the funny thing, what made News die? Was it the fact that a person decided to use their power as they saw fit to do as they wish? Now is it any different from what has happened here?
News fell because it was generating too much traffic. Too much bandwidth on the servers and DG didn't have the interest nor the funds to keep it going. There was even a fundraiser drive, one I contributed to, to try to keep it alive and there was discussion of selling to someone who did have the funds and interest to keep it alive.
The person who purchased the site wasn't some corrupt villain nor evil communist socialist Nazi. He was simply a person who made a business transaction and hoped to turn a profit. There were many unpopular decisions made and several key moderators were driven out, including Rancorred Elf. The majority of the members fled with that initial exodus. In anycase News isn't dead, but still a small fraction of its former glory.
I don't know how many parallels can be drawn between then and now. You wish to paint someone with a single brush, to perhaps claim that absolute power is corrupting absolutely, but I don't even know who the administrators are, what they represent, or how they will proceed. They are too new to even make a judgement let alone such grandiose claims.
Do you remember the last time our community was sold? MTGnews was a great home and DG selling was a great hope to save the community. The results were less than desired. To possibly upset the community or drive drama over an idea was something to be avoided. Quite frankly, I thought this thing fell through a while ago. I've personally not kept up with it, but it seems like it is still up in the air.
Quite public now though....I'll spend some time looking to see if there are any official standing rules on this, but it is not something I'm concerned about.
Crossword could be fun. Wherever we do it, make sure to invite S_P and HKkid. I'll probably make a google group later for those things, help keep contact with old called. Was Urzassedatives on our last list? He hasn't been around for a few years now.
As for new members, we're not desperate. They can come to us if they are curious. Though if you know a good solid member that would make a great addition, feel free to tell them to post here. If they can survive the "post until we feel that you are a member of this clan" and the "don't dominate the conversation" then they might make the cut. A bit vague, but then we've always been bad at rules.
I have another job interview this Friday. A rather neat area in a transition zone between my two favorite deserts. Pay's a bit low, but then I suppose I can't be picky. I'd just hate the idea of accepting the first job that comes along, then quitting shortly after for a better paying job. That might work well in the real world, but in the seasonal world that can cripple a project.
I'm also working on publishing a paper. But its hard to fit that in between Starcraft. Not good having access to reliable computers when there is a project that needs to be worked on.
Awww, what didn't you like about innistrad? I didn't play any of the expansions, but I heard they were decent. Still trying to collect the all foil set, which I probably should abandon since I'm only 1/3rd the way through and I still need the expensive cards. Not to mention by this time most the foils are hard to find all minty mint. Heck, they were hard enough to find strait out of the pack. Always had some sort of imperfection.
I had a good time heading down through Utah. Dropped by a friend in Salt Lake City and we drove to pay our respects to a good'ol cowboy friend of mine. Then I went up to Vernal to hang out with some old friends and visit the dinosaur national monument. That's where a whole bunch of dinosaurs died in a river bed, the river turned to stone then was tilted on its side, and scientists exposed some of the bones so you get a big wall of dinosaur bones sticking out. I've been there before, but they closed it up for many years for repairs.
I made it to vegas a few days ago and did the tourist thing with my cousin from Holland. Standard walking around the strip, gambling, going the the many malls, and just hanging out. We did a good solid hike in the red rocks area and spent yesterday hiking around Zion national park. Loads of fun.
Next plan...well I don't know. A few days here to rest, then travel some more.
The horse is good now. Was even sold to a happy family.
Had my fourth and final lesson today. This time it was going around an obstacle course. Control of the horse can be subtle or direct. Here's what I learned.
Turn right, leading with front legs: Pull the right reign until the horses head tilts slightly, then tap the front cinch on her left side.
Turn right, leading with back legs: Pull the right reign up to my belly button, then tap the back cinch on her right side.
Opposite for turning left.
Stopping: Breath deep and exhale relaxed.
...I forget all that when the horse gets up to a trotting speed. I really wish I had time for more lessons as I'd love to master these basic moves. Get up to canter and maybe even galloping speeds.
Oh...I got a job interview next Wednesday for a research specialist at a ranch down in Arizona. Here's hoping I get it.
Also, I'm heading out of town tomorrow. Going to drive down to vegas. I'll be there in 5 days. See you guys when I get there.
Do you still want the veggie contact in Portugal (Yes, I went there :p)? I'm trying to get a teacher's e-mail.[quote]
Sure, though I've only got 10 hours left on this project. I think I'm going to overwhelm my team....I don't think they expected me to email a professor in every other country. I've been getting some great responses though. I've got two in Kazakhstan, one of whom is familliar with kyrgystan and tajikistan. Haven't heard from Iran or Saudi Arabia...could we tell homeland security to hurry up with reviewing my email. No there are no coded messages in there and yes I just want to know about vegetation.
[QUOTE=votan;/comments/10248758] :nike:?
Well...more like ....only with us petting and hoping that she's not badly hurt or dying. I was told there was a combination of things that made the horses hind legs sore and caused her to fall. One of which was a lot of sex with a very heavy male horse.
I was also told that horses are not suppose to fall over. And though 50% of my horse riding experience involved falling horses, I should discount all that. I think there's a saying. If the horse falls, try not to get squished, stand up, and get back on another horse...something like that? ...Today's lesson went much smoother. Mostly the trainer walking the horse around a mile loop with her telling me about posture and control. I might be able to fit in one last lesson...that lesson I would like to get on the horse and make it go into a direction that i want. Maybe up the speed to a trot.
@ Dux. Haven't been using bold text....not that I can see anyway. But between copy and posting you'se and votans texts, well Its hard enough not to type orange/tan and I don't bother fixing type. So there is that?
Congrats charlie on kicking butt. Way to represent.
T Perhaps I should be worried though, I'm named after Superman...and he got paralyzed in a horse riding accident. Also, what is this thing you called a helmet a bit ago? I am not familiar with that technology.
Huh....should'a knocked on wood. Today I learned how to jump off a falling horse. That'll get your heart pumping...and me without health insurance. I'll try again this Thursday.
As for gender identity, I think I mentioned that it's a messy issue; it doesn't matter to me, as we're simply numbers. (:((
Then lets drop this topic. If you don't believe you brought up the subject in the first place, then I don't care to try to convince you. A rather boring topic.
Quote from votan »
I know what you meant. But you're travelling the world. Horse Ridding?... I've only touched a horse once
...yeah, I know that you knew. Horse riding is just lessons right now. Nothing spectacular cause I don't know much. Was taught the parts of a saddle, but don't remember them. Perhaps I should be worried though, I'm named after Superman...and he got paralyzed in a horse riding accident. Also, what is this thing you called a helmet a bit ago? I am not familiar with that technology.
Got 25 hours left that I can work. I've got to optimize my time...but then I've always had the same strategy. You always take Australia first, even if you don't have a strong presence there. I had two good contacts and wasn't letting Australia go. Next you typically go for South America or Africa....somewhat complex, but South America is typically slightly easier than Africa so I have that place flooded and dominated. I know some go for North America, but I've decided to ignore it for now. And Europe or Asia...nobody in their right mind goes strait at Europe or Asia...that's the fastest way to lose the game.
I don't know how you read "Teia is a guy" or a he.
You called her Alex and mentioned Gender Identity. You kind of spelled it out quite clearly. votan clarified it later. I have no idea why you chose to bring up gender identity since that wasn't even the topic. The topic was her past behavior possibly being somewhat volatile. I've no idea how true any of that was though....or how it may compare with other folks such as Manders and her well known...passion...for certain topics.
Quote from votan »
And, I'm sad again. It's not fair that Daggs keeps living his dream and I'm stuck here... I'm happy for you Daggs, but why can't I have some fun?
You misunderstand me. I'm not traveling to those areas, just making contacts from around the world and trying to get them to help me with a map I've been making. So far the best contact was from New Zealand. We bounced back about 5 emails between us and really hammered out the vegetation of New Zealand. If I can get my Tasmania contact to reply I'll have the entire Australia area completely vetted.
Africa is going slower than I want, South America might have too many people as I feel a bit overwhelmed there, and I need more middle eastern contacts. I think I have one in Pakistan, maybe I should check Tehran.
Votan, do you know of any ecology professors in Portugal? My Portugal contact, who was on my masters committee, hasn't responded.
Cheers,
Daggertooth
Edit: Oh cool. The University of Tehran has a department of Range and Watershed Management with at least two professors who are focused on Range. Emailed them. Fingers Crossed that I can perfect the vegetation in Iran and the surrounding areas.
I'll leave a redirect for a week.
Clan Retired.
Anyone have any thoughts to this upcoming prerelease? I've not really looked at the cards and don't have much interest, but enthusiasm and excitement from my clan may entice me to go.
I'm guessing my Modern Dual lands are going to be worthless because of this set. ....great.
Anyone in the clan play starcraft? I've been playing a lot of it in the last two weeks. I really suck at it, but am getting better.
Cheers,
Daggertooth
Does this mean we clan moderators are supposed to keep up with site wide shenanigans as a whole?
....pick a guild?...well that's easy, Golgari. The truest representation of nature, whats natural, and life in general. ...But I haven't touched my magic cards since December. I used to always frequent prereleases at the very least, but I don't feel very motivated. How do you guys feel about this set thus far?
Well your own fault for using different skins.
Probably true on both fronts. I'm not really sure how evenly you can paint the entire staff. Some are passionate, some might be on a powertrip, and some might mean well but simply have a different philosophy. My own style is rather laid back and low key. If something is borderline I typically go "meh" and move on. One of the reasons you rarely see me post anywhere. Plus clans is very good at self maintenance and self policing. We've only had maybe 3 drama bombs since I've been here, and they've only lasted a few days. Gotta say, I'm quite pleased with our little sub-community.
Now there might be a large number of our staff that is a certain way...but I wouldn't know anything about it. As far as I can tell, our turnover rate at the moment is surprisingly and disturbingly high. Just saw Sene step down, a surprise as i thought people liked him.
Some of the current drama might be stemming from the fact that the proposed sell was instantly leaked to the gutter within hours of the staff being told. As far as I know, the culprit was never found, but it did start the whole Gaddafi photothon we have going on.
Anyway, I just thought I'd drop by and make a comment or two. Didn't mean to start a general discussion about moderators. If you want indepth and often random discussion about mods, go to CI. If you wish to protect your sanity, avoid CI.
Now I just noticed the entire spoiler for the next set is released. Means the prerelease is coming soon. I best look to see when that is.
Perhaps....could be me though. I think I'm talking about the right topic, but then I didn't even know my friend Kpaca and others were banned until I saw these posts yesterday. I deliberately avoid the CI section. It has nothing to do with Clans and mostly it's a place for drama hoarding. I don't know how real or how large any of the drama in CI is, but if you spend too much time in there you'll start to believe that every little topic might possibly be a site wide calamity.
@Dimir, Hmmm....I didn't know this was happening. Looks like you guys and I may have been discussing different things.
@Macius. I believe you have the correct user, Subterranean Spirit. And I think you are right that he was changing things to his designs, within his right since he (or his employer?) purchased the site. Within our right to leave. If he had more foresight he might not have shot himself in the foot.
...funny how five or so years can cloud the memory. There are gaps in my thoughts....I recall SS banning very popular members such as Rancored Elf and Urzasseddatives and anyone who mentioned the name salvation. But this was after the exodus had started. There's something between when SS became admin and the banning for mentioning salvation took place that caused the bulk of the tension. I think it was something to do with fundamentals of the site, but I'm not sure there. SS did accuse Rancored elf of steeling (an accusation that I don't believe)...this was a fight over the amount donated to initially save news in the first place. I don't know how much was donated and where it went.
Perhaps we view the site differently. It is my view that the staff as a whole has catered and capitulated too much to various whims and special interests of members. Certainly an open mind and a listening ear are needed, but the more the staff plays at full disclosure and making everyone "feel" like everything is "fair" the more members think that they deserve all the information on everything. It does annoy me a bit when the staff bends over backwards so much that we fall on ourselves...then we rashly stand back up, brush ourselves off, and try to act like that's what we wanted...which tends to make things worse. I think how the gutter was handled is a perfect example of this. (this is not a pro or anti gutter statement, just a meta-observation of how it has been handled over the past few years)
News fell because it was generating too much traffic. Too much bandwidth on the servers and DG didn't have the interest nor the funds to keep it going. There was even a fundraiser drive, one I contributed to, to try to keep it alive and there was discussion of selling to someone who did have the funds and interest to keep it alive.
The person who purchased the site wasn't some corrupt villain nor evil communist socialist Nazi. He was simply a person who made a business transaction and hoped to turn a profit. There were many unpopular decisions made and several key moderators were driven out, including Rancorred Elf. The majority of the members fled with that initial exodus. In anycase News isn't dead, but still a small fraction of its former glory.
I don't know how many parallels can be drawn between then and now. You wish to paint someone with a single brush, to perhaps claim that absolute power is corrupting absolutely, but I don't even know who the administrators are, what they represent, or how they will proceed. They are too new to even make a judgement let alone such grandiose claims.
Do you remember the last time our community was sold? MTGnews was a great home and DG selling was a great hope to save the community. The results were less than desired. To possibly upset the community or drive drama over an idea was something to be avoided. Quite frankly, I thought this thing fell through a while ago. I've personally not kept up with it, but it seems like it is still up in the air.
Quite public now though....I'll spend some time looking to see if there are any official standing rules on this, but it is not something I'm concerned about.
I am unaware of the recent drama.
As for new members, we're not desperate. They can come to us if they are curious. Though if you know a good solid member that would make a great addition, feel free to tell them to post here. If they can survive the "post until we feel that you are a member of this clan" and the "don't dominate the conversation" then they might make the cut. A bit vague, but then we've always been bad at rules.
I have another job interview this Friday. A rather neat area in a transition zone between my two favorite deserts. Pay's a bit low, but then I suppose I can't be picky. I'd just hate the idea of accepting the first job that comes along, then quitting shortly after for a better paying job. That might work well in the real world, but in the seasonal world that can cripple a project.
I'm also working on publishing a paper. But its hard to fit that in between Starcraft. Not good having access to reliable computers when there is a project that needs to be worked on.
Cheers,
Daggertooth
Awww, what didn't you like about innistrad? I didn't play any of the expansions, but I heard they were decent. Still trying to collect the all foil set, which I probably should abandon since I'm only 1/3rd the way through and I still need the expensive cards. Not to mention by this time most the foils are hard to find all minty mint. Heck, they were hard enough to find strait out of the pack. Always had some sort of imperfection.
I had a good time heading down through Utah. Dropped by a friend in Salt Lake City and we drove to pay our respects to a good'ol cowboy friend of mine. Then I went up to Vernal to hang out with some old friends and visit the dinosaur national monument. That's where a whole bunch of dinosaurs died in a river bed, the river turned to stone then was tilted on its side, and scientists exposed some of the bones so you get a big wall of dinosaur bones sticking out. I've been there before, but they closed it up for many years for repairs.
I made it to vegas a few days ago and did the tourist thing with my cousin from Holland. Standard walking around the strip, gambling, going the the many malls, and just hanging out. We did a good solid hike in the red rocks area and spent yesterday hiking around Zion national park. Loads of fun.
Next plan...well I don't know. A few days here to rest, then travel some more.
Cheers,
Daggertooth
The horse is good now. Was even sold to a happy family.
Had my fourth and final lesson today. This time it was going around an obstacle course. Control of the horse can be subtle or direct. Here's what I learned.
Turn right, leading with front legs: Pull the right reign until the horses head tilts slightly, then tap the front cinch on her left side.
Turn right, leading with back legs: Pull the right reign up to my belly button, then tap the back cinch on her right side.
Opposite for turning left.
Stopping: Breath deep and exhale relaxed.
...I forget all that when the horse gets up to a trotting speed. I really wish I had time for more lessons as I'd love to master these basic moves. Get up to canter and maybe even galloping speeds.
Oh...I got a job interview next Wednesday for a research specialist at a ranch down in Arizona. Here's hoping I get it.
Also, I'm heading out of town tomorrow. Going to drive down to vegas. I'll be there in 5 days. See you guys when I get there.
Cheers,
Daggertooth
Well...more like
I was also told that horses are not suppose to fall over. And though 50% of my horse riding experience involved falling horses, I should discount all that. I think there's a saying. If the horse falls, try not to get squished, stand up, and get back on another horse...something like that? ...Today's lesson went much smoother. Mostly the trainer walking the horse around a mile loop with her telling me about posture and control. I might be able to fit in one last lesson...that lesson I would like to get on the horse and make it go into a direction that i want. Maybe up the speed to a trot.
Cheers,
Daggertooth
Congrats charlie on kicking butt. Way to represent.
Cheers,
Daggertooth
Then lets drop this topic. If you don't believe you brought up the subject in the first place, then I don't care to try to convince you. A rather boring topic.
Got 25 hours left that I can work. I've got to optimize my time...but then I've always had the same strategy. You always take Australia first, even if you don't have a strong presence there. I had two good contacts and wasn't letting Australia go. Next you typically go for South America or Africa....somewhat complex, but South America is typically slightly easier than Africa so I have that place flooded and dominated. I know some go for North America, but I've decided to ignore it for now. And Europe or Asia...nobody in their right mind goes strait at Europe or Asia...that's the fastest way to lose the game.
Cheers,
Daggertooth
You called her Alex and mentioned Gender Identity. You kind of spelled it out quite clearly. votan clarified it later. I have no idea why you chose to bring up gender identity since that wasn't even the topic. The topic was her past behavior possibly being somewhat volatile. I've no idea how true any of that was though....or how it may compare with other folks such as Manders and her well known...passion...for certain topics.
You misunderstand me. I'm not traveling to those areas, just making contacts from around the world and trying to get them to help me with a map I've been making. So far the best contact was from New Zealand. We bounced back about 5 emails between us and really hammered out the vegetation of New Zealand. If I can get my Tasmania contact to reply I'll have the entire Australia area completely vetted.
Africa is going slower than I want, South America might have too many people as I feel a bit overwhelmed there, and I need more middle eastern contacts. I think I have one in Pakistan, maybe I should check Tehran.
Votan, do you know of any ecology professors in Portugal? My Portugal contact, who was on my masters committee, hasn't responded.
Cheers,
Daggertooth
Edit: Oh cool. The University of Tehran has a department of Range and Watershed Management with at least two professors who are focused on Range. Emailed them. Fingers Crossed that I can perfect the vegetation in Iran and the surrounding areas.