From what I understand this Safety Valve place is where we can post anything without worrying about getting slapped on the wrist so here goes mine. For some time now I have been reading posts made by a moderator on the "news" section.Let's call this moderator "bOner" from here on to make it easier. This has bothered me very much, because people come and comment on the articles based on what they have read from previous articles here on Afterdawn too. Why do I know that? because I read the News articles everyday, so as to say that I am keeping up with the news and would know why they made such a comment without having to ask where they got that information from. So anyways, this moderator (bOner) comes and sees these comments and starts pretty much slapping them around, defending a certain company, for protection of the unmentioned company let's say Phony from here on. So you find an article about Phony, people make a comment which is good for Phony and bOner says nothing, but if the comment is bad for Phony he jumps right in and starts saying stuff like "Where do you get your information from?" or "You are making unfounded comments". If they defend themselves, big mistake, because then he says that they talk back and stuff like that and now they are breaking the rules. So FROM MY POINT OF VIEW he pushes them, they push back and now he has an excuse to punish them, or to look "merciful" when he "decides not to" punish them. That has been bothering me for a long long time, but I didn't say anything before because i also read a rule that says that you pretty much can't do that. So the only option is to report the user right? wrong, how do you report a moderator to himself? i tried looking in the forums to what to do without breaking rules, and pretty much there's no info on that. I thought about reporting to the owner but decided to read some first, and he doesn't seem to like to be bothered much, I understand that because i imagine he is really busy. So anyways, I have been making my comments trying to make sure that I say "from my point of view" or stuff like that, but sooner or later I knew it was coming, and it has, bOner has passed his "righteous" judgement upon my comments because I am "clueless", I clarified what I was saying and he says that I had "semantics" errors, so now it's not about not having the right information but about semantics. So it feels as if it's any excuse as long as Phony is kept safeguarded. Now why would I go and do something like this? Well, I'm an idealist. If I see something wrong, I will try and make it right by following the right way to do it. When I see no other way I feel that it's an obligation to speak up. And when that doesn't work either I have a code to follow, and it says that if you see something wrong and remain there, it's as if you approve and even support it. If you don't want to be labeled as such then you must leave. So this is my speaking up. I do hope that it reaches to whom it should concern. Yes we as users should try every day to better our skills, and to follow the rules to the best of our understanding, but that includes moderators as well, who should try to be better each day by trying to learn from previous mistakes. If so many people keep on telling you that you are doing something wrong, don't you think it's time that you stop and revise yourself to see if it's true? that one of course is going to bOner. So this in fact is my last good bye to Afterdawn, where I had such a great time for a long time. Best regards to all users and staff.
nothing to do with me.. but my view is very clear on that matter. company shills make a mockery of allowing people to comment on news items.. makes the place look like it is funded by the company they shill for.. which may actually be the fact.. oh.. and just to piss people off.. I STILL use adblock and noscript to avoid the annoying popups crap and messy intrusive java. My screen.. my metered usage.. my choice
ive noticed the petty arguements in the news section since phony screwed up.if a moderator wants to argue everything let them think there right.
The think is that if you are bias you cannot moderate impartially, well you should right? but that is not the case X_x
is this a can of worms we want to open again devil dude? .. I mean.. how many knowledgeable and highly skilled people walked because of the actions of a certain shill? this site completely lost it's credibility over it.. hence the sorry state it is in now.. I just hang about when I can be bothered to be a pain in the ass... and hoping to run across a couple of good friends who have gone missing.. Mr Brandon DeVries.. where are you, and why didn't you tell us you got married?
everyone is bias to a degree otherwise we wouldnt have things like discrimination,sexist,racism,.thats just 3 examples sure there are plenty more. i will leave it at that.
I was searching for him on behalf of a friend.. and I came across his profile in a "certain place" and it looks like he got spliced sometime last year .. might not be the same person, but it's uncanny coincidence with an uncommon name like that eh? .. and would also explain his complete absence for the last 18 months.
Who would have thunk it. LOL! He seemed to be a good kid when he posted here. I hope that he is doing okay, and if he did get married, I hope that it works out well for his wife and him.
totally agree with the first statement in this thread..sorry but i've been wanting to vent about the same thing..moderators are supposed to be open-minded not fanboys(my opinion)..even on the nintendo wii articles, it somehow gets turned around to a "sony is great" comment..thanks to someone..can't really saying it's not bashing him..but it does get pretty annoying at times, and you have to watch what you say in "those" threads or you could get suspended or banned..just doesn't feel like the site i used to come to all the time..
Hmm, I think that a mod should be able to have a debate in the news section. People will always be fanboys and show favoritism towards certain companies/consoles etc. You shouldn't think that a heated debate in the news section with a mod could result in a ban. If you are abusive then you will be dealt with accordingly, but on the same note, if someone comes out with an opinion a mod disagrees with, banning them would be an abuse of their powers.
true..i agree with the opinion aspect and that mods should be able to debate in news sections..i remember a while when it was only a few mods that would show themselves in forums(in debates)..it's nice to see they have an opinion also..wasn't meaning, totally that one would be banned in those debates, for a disagreement..was just meaning, it would feel like you're walking on eggshells..i do have to give credit, where credit is due..a certain person is usually informed very well when it comes to debates..just may be a stronger personality, than used to from mods..guess people have more of affinity towards one's personality, and less towards another..just by how they give a first impression..
upss... sorry that i'm back on to this, but i did get an email saying there were new comments... i have no problem when it comes to people having oppinions, i myself used to be very pro-sony... my problem is like you said with abuse of power... because the unmentioned mod gets into debate, but he makes use of his "power" to keep people quiet... if you look at his messages, he will really get into "correcting" you when you make a bad comment of sony, doesn't that seem like power abuse? i've seen him going at it with people who make comments based on what articles here on AD say, and then he says that they make comments that are "unfounded" and if they disagree to that he pulls out his "power" card... guess that's it.... oh and if he was moderating this he would start saying that i made grammar mistakes, or semantic or any others he can find X_x
It's just sad you missed the all out wars a few years ago. Now there is an armed neutrality.. not an armistice more like a bristling ceasefire. It's a simple fact that many of the old timers got so fed up of posting one link to then have a shill rag it with 20 completely unconnected "facts" that we all gave up and left them to it. The wars were fun.. a real armed battle involving all kinds of tactics. I ended up with over 500 email addys at one point and nearly a live account for every one. It was fun to find the big bottleneck in the server farm... useful for a really well targetted dos attack completely within the servers. It was tested, and then dismantled after concept was proven. I seem to remember actually writing to the server admins letting them know how it was done and that as soon as the backlog cleared itself all would return to normal.. also gave them suggestions how to avoid it in future. That was then, this is now.. times have changed and there are far more important things going on in the world than worrying about one shill fanboy abusing their powers. $ony are firmly on my boycott list, so I don't even need to read any crap about them.. UK Uncut Manchester (PA) note.. this account was made by a bot as well during a minor skirmish/bot neutering exercise (did promise to blacklist ad from them.. some didn't listen).. funny how things go eh?
