CubsWoo said:
Go back a bit farther and it was started by a fringe group of posters/non-posters who made enough noise about the most popular portion of QCDN and called it out enough to get it removed.
Nah. I will say that there were people who disliked the FB, as there were people who embraced the FB. I say admit that I did create a thread asking about a QCDN without a FB. However, the decision to remove the FB was mine alone, and I would have done it even if there were zero supporters for it. My attitude on how people ought to interact with each other has changed from an original "bring everyone around you down as far as possible" to "argue all you want, but do not insult the person you are arguing with". This is what I believe, this is what I am trying to achieve here at QCDN. I deeply believe that this approach is right and just, and that those who are unwilling or unable to follow it are not welcome at QCDN.
I also see that my "soft spot" isn't getting things done. Repeatedly warning people of violations has next to no effect at all. While this is sad, I have come to accept that today and will act accordingly. Those who are unable to follow the existing rules in how to interact with other QCDN members decently will get their access to QCDN revoked. End of story on that chapter.
Cubswoo said:
Sadly, the 'core group of posters' (aka people with post counts and long-standing discussions with mods and admins) are waved away by the admin unless they're being used to help the mod/admin team make their decisions and do the police work for them.
Well, what's the surprise in that?
If you are not with me, you are against me. It worked for Dubya, it will work here. However, show me one case of me not taking a suggestion into consideration. Show me one case in which I didn't engage in a discussion with someone who has approached me by PM. Show me one case in which a publically stated opinion didn't get a reply from me.
I can certainly be blamed for many things, but in all honesty, ignoring what people have to say is not one of them. Of course the outcome of those who argued to keep the FB was not satisfactory to them, but that doesn't mean that I didn't consider retaining the FB and moderating it more strictly. It was considered, and then a different decision was made based on my very own core belief. I decided, and yes, you can call me out on that, but not on not considering other opinions in the process.
More recently I asked for opinions, and if you look at the thread I made, you will see that very few were given.
I am reachable almost 24/7 by PM, email, skype. Very few users took issues up with me personally. Mokk did as I recall, a couple others did in less lengthy conversations.
I am not opposed to controversy, I am not opposed to discussions, I am opposed to making insults and general rudeness an integral part of those.
Dowzer said:
I should've included that I don't remember Sculli ever excersizing this rule either.
Good point. You don't remember it, because no one previously made any issue out of it. I would go as far as saying that the decision to have me ask people to remove quotes of people who didn't want to be in one's sig made sense to those who were asked to remove them. It doesn't happen often, it happened perhaps a couple dozen times in two years, so that's like once a month. No one had any issue with it, most responses were along the lines of "sure, np", and the issue was done and over with.
However, this time around people decided to make this huge drama of it, OMG moderation, censorship, where are our freedoms, etc etc. You have no freedoms here at QCDN, or any other privately owned Internet forum. Those who own the forum rule it, and they tend to do so in a benevolent way. Once a sufficiently large number of users is reached, there are bound to be those who are in disagreement and feel that they have the right to do as they please. On most forums those users are dealt with quickly by banning their entire IP range. I was always much more reasonable, giving people warnings, taking their word for sticking to the plan, etc etc. I did that because I felt that those who were out of line still valued the ability to participate here if given the chance and if giving their word that they would do better.
Clearly that doesn't work, and I will adjust the corrective action process to be closer in line with other online forums of comparative size where constant problem users are shown the way out.
Dowzer said:
I DID THIS ALREADY. Sculli hasn't changed or added it though. I presumed that an "I disagree" button could revoke into less flaming and more of "get to the point" arguing.
I did actually consider this, but there was no good way to implement it at the time. However, currently vBulletin 3.6 is in beta, and as soon as it will be released you will get what you asked for. Perhaps I should have responded to you personally that this feature will become available shortly, but I didn't expect to still see you around.
See this post
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1138579&postcount=9 on how it will work, under the headline "Give Reputation Using AJAX". The new reputation system will have room to leave a comment, and while it is not exactly a "I disagree" button, it is as close to one as it will get without me finding someone to change the "Thanks" button code around to include a "I disagree" button. If you have someone who can make those code changes, do send them my way.
Mokk said:
To put it bluntly this is what people want to read, or to be more thorough this is the type of things people want to read. Disagreements, contraversy, arguement, insult and rebuttal, etc.
All of the above, less the insults, are possible at QCDN under the current rules. Insults are not mandatory to arguments. Those who are unable to argue without to insult will have to find a different place to do it.