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Old 02-07-2002, 04:24 AM   #71
Memnoch
Ironworks Moderator
 

Join Date: February 28, 2001
Location: Boston/Sydney
Posts: 11,771
quote:
Originally posted by Lavindathar:

So thanx for understanding, and I will try to take all this into account if I ever make a "sensitive" post...but if i swear...ITS CULTURAL!!hehe, thanx Saz.



Don't worry, Lav - if you do something that contravenes our ToS but the intent was not there to offend, then you'll probably just get a talking-to. We're not trigger-happy here, and we know how to determine if intent or malice are in people's posts. So you're ok!
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Old 02-07-2002, 04:33 AM   #72
Memnoch
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quote:
Originally posted by Sazerac:


Hm...the name "BG Dungeon" taxis back to me for some reason...



I want to share a story with you guys. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Anyone remember a forum called BGDungeon? Some of you may even be refugees from that forum. BGDungeon was massive – about 10,000 members. It crashed and burned about a year ago because of this very problem – abuse and disrespect of authority by a small group of people who destroyed it for everyone else. They started disrespecting the mods and admin. This began to attract trolls. Eventually the mods all gave up and eventually BGDungeon himself gave up and shut down the forum. Ask Groljach, fable, Sephiroth, RudeDawg or kiwidoc about their BGDungeon experiences.

Now you see why we're so concerned about respect for moderators and authority positions here. Moderating is NOT easy work - it involves long hours, and you don't get to choose if you are in the mood to mod or not - it's 24/7, especially in a forum this large. I'm quite certain that we've all earned some respect through our actions. I'd hate to think that I'm being respected just because I have the word "Moderator" under my name.

What do you think would happen at IW if people decided not to respect Ziroc and the moderators and started insulting/arguing with us when they didn’t agree with what we did? Trolls attract trolls. Think it would still be a fun, safe place? We'd have another BGDungeon on our hands.

I know we're nowhere NEAR the BGDungeon culture - this is the friendliest, most laid-back, most mutually respectful community of its size that I've EVER seen on the internet - and it's important that we keep it that way - ALL of us TOGETHER.

I hope you all understand. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 02-07-2002: Message edited by: Memnoch ]

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Old 02-07-2002, 06:12 AM   #73
Grojlach
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Join Date: May 2, 2001
Location: Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum
Age: 43
Posts: 5,281
quote:
Originally posted by Memnoch:


Anyone remember a forum called BGDungeon? Some of you may even be refugees from that forum. BGDungeon was massive – about 10,000 members. It crashed and burned about a year ago because of this very problem – abuse and disrespect of authority by a small group of people who destroyed it for everyone else. They started disrespecting the mods and admin. This began to attract trolls. Eventually the mods all gave up and eventually BGDungeon himself gave up and shut down the forum. Ask Groljach, fable, Sephiroth, RudeDawg or kiwidoc about their BGDungeon experiences.




*copy/pastes the thing he posted earlier at the HADB board*

*Nods in agreement*
Even worse, BGDungeon had about 15000 (!) members at the time of the deletion. It completely got out of hand because the webmaster stopped caring about his own site, lost interest in it, not sure what, but he didn't make 1 single post since September 2000 (BGDungeon went down in March 2001, figures...)
There were only 4 mods for a board with 15000 members, at least a couple of hundred regulars posting every day. One of these mods was hardly around due to illnesses, so that leaves only three... Only the admin was able to ban people, and since he was never around in the first place, bans always took several days. In February and March half the forum was nothing more but a playground for hordes of trolls, just imagine the worst troll you've ever had at Ironworks but then 15 of them. And hardly anything the mods were able to do about it aside deleting all of the trolls' posts... As you can see, a lack of rules and respect only spawns more trolls.
There may have been other reasons for closing down aside from all the trolls (mainly on a financial level), but note that BGDungeon was an behemoth completely gotten out of control...
Be glad there are rules and that there are staff members upholding those rules, bending them a little or being fair if the situation asks for it. And you think Ziroc is a little too strict? Ha! You have seen nothing yet... Just trust me when I say that you should be glad to have Ziroc, and not one of those real tirants, admins deleting any reference to other boards because they're afraid of losing traffic, banning members because they disagree (note: not flame, but disagree) with that same admin... It happens. Trust me.
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Old 02-07-2002, 10:11 AM   #74
Sazerac
Ironworks Moderator
 

Join Date: January 7, 2001
Location: Monroe, LA
Age: 60
Posts: 7,387
quote:
Originally posted by Grojlach:


*copy/pastes the thing he posted earlier at the HADB board*

*Nods in agreement*
Even worse, BGDungeon had about 15000 (!) members at the time of the deletion. It completely got out of hand because the webmaster stopped caring about his own site, lost interest in it, not sure what, but he didn't make 1 single post since September 2000 (BGDungeon went down in March 2001, figures...)
There were only 4 mods for a board with 15000 members, at least a couple of hundred regulars posting every day. One of these mods was hardly around due to illnesses, so that leaves only three... Only the admin was able to ban people, and since he was never around in the first place, bans always took several days. In February and March half the forum was nothing more but a playground for hordes of trolls, just imagine the worst troll you've ever had at Ironworks but then 15 of them. And hardly anything the mods were able to do about it aside deleting all of the trolls' posts... As you can see, a lack of rules and respect only spawns more trolls.
There may have been other reasons for closing down aside from all the trolls (mainly on a financial level), but note that BGDungeon was an behemoth completely gotten out of control...
Be glad there are rules and that there are staff members upholding those rules, bending them a little or being fair if the situation asks for it. And you think Ziroc is a little too strict? Ha! You have seen nothing yet... Just trust me when I say that you should be glad to have Ziroc, and not one of those real tirants, admins deleting any reference to other boards because they're afraid of losing traffic, banning members because they disagree (note: not flame, but disagree) with that same admin... It happens. Trust me.



Thank you for saying that, Grojlach...it bears so much more weight coming from a veteran of that board. [img]smile.gif[/img] We have less than 7000 members here, and only about 5-10% of them are active participants at General Discussions (and that may be a liberal estimate). I've wanted for some time to do a mini-"census" on the board to find out how many people there are who regularly post to General Discussions. Hm, I may do that yet.

Ironworks is ultimately more manageable, obviously, than was BGDungeon...sad thing is, BGDungeon's fate was ultimately avoidable. We did get a lot of BGDungeon refugees in April and May of last year; some of them our best members now. [img]smile.gif[/img] We want to make sure that history does not repeat itself here, and that Ironworks remains as a bastion of friendly forums.

Cheers,
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Old 02-07-2002, 10:33 AM   #75
Sigmar
Unicorn
 

Join Date: May 17, 2001
Location: N/a
Posts: 4,222
quote:
Originally posted by Memnoch:


I want to share a story with you guys. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Anyone remember a forum called BGDungeon? Some of you may even be refugees from that forum. BGDungeon was massive – about 10,000 members. It crashed and burned about a year ago because of this very problem – abuse and disrespect of authority by a small group of people who destroyed it for everyone else. They started disrespecting the mods and admin. This began to attract trolls. Eventually the mods all gave up and eventually BGDungeon himself gave up and shut down the forum. Ask Groljach, fable, Sephiroth, RudeDawg or kiwidoc about their BGDungeon experiences.

Now you see why we're so concerned about respect for moderators and authority positions here. Moderating is NOT easy work - it involves long hours, and you don't get to choose if you are in the mood to mod or not - it's 24/7, especially in a forum this large. I'm quite certain that we've all earned some respect through our actions. I'd hate to think that I'm being respected just because I have the word "Moderator" under my name.

What do you think would happen at IW if people decided not to respect Ziroc and the moderators and started insulting/arguing with us when they didn’t agree with what we did? Trolls attract trolls. Think it would still be a fun, safe place? We'd have another BGDungeon on our hands.

I know we're nowhere NEAR the BGDungeon culture - this is the friendliest, most laid-back, most mutually respectful community of its size that I've EVER seen on the internet - and it's important that we keep it that way - ALL of us TOGETHER.

I hope you all understand. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 02-07-2002: Message edited by: Memnoch ]



Yep things really began going bad in November, and then soon after the mods gave up on the forum, many members (including myself)bailed out and headed to other forums, one day I decided to return and I found out that it had been closed down. All this started with only a handful of individuals (I dont remember their names) but as Memnoch says trolls soon heard about the problems and they turned the tiny scratch into a huge gaping wound, I doubt this will ever happen here as we have a family like community here, and dedicated mods who make sure that it will NOT happen either. Think of Ironworks without the mods, and then you will truly realise how much the board needs them. Respect them because they deserve it.
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Old 02-07-2002, 10:36 AM   #76
Vaskez
Takhisis Follower
 

Join Date: April 30, 2001
Location: szép Magyarország (well not right now)
Posts: 5,089
quote:
Originally posted by Sazerac:

We did get a lot of BGDungeon refugees in April and May of last year; some of them our best members now. [img]smile.gif[/img]



*Bows* thank you thank you
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Old 02-07-2002, 11:16 AM   #77
Ziroc
Ironworks Webmaster

     
     Bow to the Meow

 

Join Date: January 4, 2001
Location: Lakeland, Florida
Age: 51
Posts: 11,720
quote:
Originally posted by Larry_OHF:
[QB]
Is this what a Moderator's Neutrality means?[QB]



for ME, it was more like being a politician, but without the professional lying part-- Don't take sides, treat everyone as equals. Stay away from 'hot' topics when possible and stuff.. just remember to be fair. That is what I've tried to do.. Heck, when I first started to run the forum, I didn't want people to know TOO much about me, about my likes and dislikes because of what you were talking about. But I decided to share lots with you all, we all became good friends and stuff.

Neutrality can sometimes force you to keep quiet too, but that can be a good thing SOMETIMES.. Now that is how I used to be, I HAVE opened up more though--as some will recall in the War forum.. It's hard.. and I'm the type that tries to please everyone, but I learned that there is no way I could. (I still try though)

I think what got Ironworks 'going' and keeps it going is the friendly atmosphere. The Mods and I will answer most all questions/emails.. If someone has a problem logging in, I will be very friendly and personal with them--not 'corporate-like'.. you know how corporate type sites are.. That is something I will never do. I've seen so many small companies that became big because of BEING 'personal' and going the extra mile for people, but then they got huge, and totally went 'cold' and totally lost the company..

Ironworks will never act 'corporate'. My website and forum will always remain a place to hang out, chill and enjoy. when you email me, you'll usually always get an answer, and soon! I don't know how many times I've gotten an email question, and I replied right away, and they replied back SHOCKED--saying 'Wow, I have never had such a quick response to an email with my questions answered ect..'. THIS is what makes a website something special. going the extra mile for ANYONE, and make them feel at home, with friends--that's Ironworks to me.

You don't even wanna know how many companies wanted to host me.. I've turned them all down.. all they wanted to do was 'use' Ironworks to fill their pockets with $$$, and you all would have had pop-up banners, java popups, banners, flash banners.. all that crap. I'm just not going to sell out like that.

I DID have a simple 1 banner item at the top of the website pages, but geez, have you SEEN sites like Gamespot? they have like 5 Ad's on each page, and then some in the middle of a review.. and these 'new' ad's that are like flash transparencies that you cannot avoid. they cover the page you're looking at.. totally sellout. I know they need the $$ to keep the site and bandwidth going.. but there comes a point when the site becomes about MONEY and not about the PASSION of it.. it's sad too.. I've seen SO many sites die because of this.. Gamecenter, Daily Radar.. and others.

[ 02-07-2002: Message edited by: Ziroc ]

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Old 02-07-2002, 11:30 AM   #78
Ziroc
Ironworks Webmaster

     
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Join Date: January 4, 2001
Location: Lakeland, Florida
Age: 51
Posts: 11,720
quote:
Originally posted by Rikard_OHF:

Bah It's not like you didn;t do it before
And besides
You can always be some part of K&Z [img]smile.gif[/img]

--------------

Off-topic
Ehm LarrydaLoon...
What have you been drinking [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[ 02-06-2002: Message edited by: Rikard_OHF ]




Rikard, you need to email me asap with which account you want to keep. You know the rules old boy, 1 account per user.
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Old 02-07-2002, 11:39 AM   #79
Ziroc
Ironworks Webmaster

     
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Join Date: January 4, 2001
Location: Lakeland, Florida
Age: 51
Posts: 11,720
quote:
Originally posted by Sazerac:

Worst case? Ziroc could be slapped with a lawsuit for providing material inappropriate to a minor.




Na, I can't be held responsible, remember, when you agree to the rules, this little paragraph protects me fully:

----------------
In Closing:
Although the administrators and moderators of the Ironworks Gaming Forum will attempt to keep all objectionable messages off this forum, it is impossible for us to review all messages. All messages express the views of the author, and the operators of Ironworks Gaming will not be held responsible for the content of any message. By clicking the Agree button, you agree that you will not post any messages that are, hateful, threatening, or otherwise violate of any laws. The Ironworks Webmaster has the right to remove, Edit, Move or close any thread for any reason.
-------------

But it doesn't mean I would get a nasty-gram. , So I usually nuke the user that did it. [img]smile.gif[/img]
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Old 02-07-2002, 12:51 PM   #80
Attalus
Symbol of Bane
 

Join Date: November 26, 2001
Location: Texas
Age: 75
Posts: 8,167
"Respect the mods?" Heck, I adulate them. Wonderful job, all, great forum, Ziroc.
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