Well done to all the assholes who thought it'd be a good idea to push the boundaries of what the modmin team will put up with. You've finally pushed it to the point where I've had enough of dealing with a bunch of adolescents, so it's just no longer worth carrying on with.
From this point forward, if anybody creates a thread which would ordinarily have gone in BCD anywhere else in the forum, they will be summarily banned. No pleading with them to behave, no warnings, just...banned.
You wanted to see what would happen...this is it.
Brilliant work. I'm sure you're all proud.
<space for hire>
Comments
I say this because there are a few instances where posting on a publically private part of the forum has been cathartic for people with problems, who may not want the world to see those problems on a public part of the forum?
Mental issues, marital issues, bereavement, etc spring to mind, for example.
But, obviously, your call, and the mod job is a thankless one, as I know to a lesser extent, doing that job in the past on a football forum, and that was a piece of cake compared to this.
I can't help about the shape I'm in, I can't sing I ain't pretty and my legs are thin
But don't ask me what I think of you, I might not give the answer that you want me to
So it's bye-bye to BCD, and everybody loses out because of those people. No more hand-wringing and long conversations behind-the-scenes at all.
It may come back, if folk can actually behave like grown-ups. I doubt it, though.
If anybody objects, then take it to PM with the culprits. Maybe a bit of mob justice will do the trick where modmin actions have failed.
I do think that there's room for a specific place for people with problems to go for help or just to 'talk' about difficult things with virtual friends and still remain anonymous to the world at large.
I'm a relative newcomer to the forum but have been struck by how friendly, caring and helpful the forum has been for people in trouble emotionally - or even financially- and it's a shame if the actions of a few spoil that.
Cordoning off a section of the forum like BCD (in a subsection called "parody", I would add) was the opportunity to have a part of the forum that would accordingly be far less strictly moderated than the rest of the forum. The only moderation effort needed would have been to make sure it didn't spill out into other areas of the forum and to kill anything illegal or whatever.
Instead you continued to attempt to moderate BCD on the same basis as the rest of the forum, which completely negated the idea of having a cordoned-off section where people could go to be weird. And crucially, to discuss difficult things privately with, what for some users, are the only friends they have.
If it's too much hassle to moderate then fine, do whatever you want, but don't make other people responsible for your unwillingness to deal with it more constructively.
When people start creating threads specifically to piss the modmins off, that's where I draw the line. That's not an "attempt to moderate BCD on the same basis as the rest of the forum" (although you yourself have somewhat misunderstood what BCD's for, but that's a conversation I can't be arsed to have right now).
The alternative at this point is simply turning the whole fucking forum off and walking away. What would you prefer?
I know what you intended BCD to be for. What I mean is you didn't seem to grasp that making a "sin bin" section but then trying to moderate it like a normal section is exactly what causes people to start baiting moderators.
It's your forum, you do what you want with it.
The number of times I've clicked on seemingly interesting thread titles only to find they're about sodding football!#*!#!
Honestly, though, some of your posts have been close to that line, and condescending stuff implying what I don't "grasp" also fall under that category.
Ian
Lowering my expectations has succeeded beyond my wildest dreams.
I get far more value out of the guitar aspects of the forum than the bcd stuff, even if I have posted in there.
I'm sure one day they'll be another new section added, but until then, I'll not be losing any sleep.