An open letter to the ZDoom community regarding drama

[Doomguy 2000]

Regardless of your so called letter to the community, there will always be pointless drama. The fact that this is a childish community will never change as long as the people here continue to get emotional and overreact to things. You are also hypocritical at the sametime because you also caused some drama as well.

[wildweasel]

Regardless of your so called letter to the community, there will always be pointless drama. The fact that this is a childish community will never change as long as the people here continue to get emotional and overreact to things. You are also hypocritical at the sametime because you also caused some drama as well.

I don't think you've got much room to judge, there...

[Big C]

Yyyyyeah. Besides, I at least wanted to get some answers as to WHY this happens between names-to-know in the community.

Four pages later I'm still not quite entirely sure, though, aside from:

A) people are human

B) programming is bloody hard work

C) some people take ZDoom modding way more seriously than I do.

[Tormentor667]

I really hope Nash decides to post his stuff back online at some point. Taking it all down benefits no one and only hurts those who weren't involved in any sort of shenanigans.

That, nothing else to add

[Caligari87]

I believe a great sage once said "Just be excellent to each other." Or something like that.

Really, that's all it takes. I have no stake in any of the current drama, although I have occasionally clashed with a couple other forum-ers in the past. I can't say what might be the cause of recent issues, but I have noticed a definite rise in bitterness and snark as compared to a few years ago. Or at least, maybe the snark was still there, but it seemed tenured users took it in stride or good humor.

A lot of us are getting older. Some of us (like myself) are no longer teenagers and have to deal with hard grown-up stuff now, the kind of stuff that wears on your soul. Some of the older users here are likely approaching late middle-age or even seniority. Maybe we're less patient and forgiving as the years go on. Maybe it's just that a lot of us joined in the "early years" (2003-2008-ish?) and now the honeymoon is over. We've learned a lot of each others quirks and they've worn on us over time when they would have previously been forgiven. I dunno.

I just want to see this community stick around and stay (or again become) close-knit. I'd really hate to see many of you leave or become irreconcilable. That'd just be sad.

[NeuralStunner]

I don't know what's wrong with "current measures". I suspect that under stricter policy this thread would have been locked on sight.

Something I've always appreciated about this forum is how realistic the moderation is. If someone is showing a bad attitude (and not technically breaking rules), you shouldn't feel reluctant to tell them why that's a poor decision. (Just because the recipient sees it as "hostile" doesn't make it off-limits. Anyone who's been around the Projects forum knows that some types of people will take offense to any criticism.) It's part of belonging to a community rather than just a forum.

As soon as I can't speak out without punishment, I'm gone.

And yeah, it's unfortunate to see Nash quitting like he did. He's always been relatively cool about things before, so I guess he does need the break.

[Jaxxoon R]

There's a certain air to this forum that makes me hesitant to post in it. And I'm not around often enough to put my finger on it, unfortunately.

[Big C]

After much thinking, I'd like to clarify that what the forum needs isn't stricter moderation, but more visible ideals for forum behavior---I don't mean more visibly posted rules, I mean... Like, model citizens or something. It's bit hard for me to explain.

[Scripten]

After much thinking, I'd like to clarify that what the forum needs isn't stricter moderation, but more visible ideals for forum behavior---I don't mean more visibly posted rules, I mean... Like, model citizens or something. It's bit hard for me to explain.

You mean the expectation for non-moderator long-term folks to be held to a higher standard of civility? If so, I agree on principle, but that's not (and I think everyone here understands this) something that can be accomplished via rules. It would be nice, but unfortunately, just being high-visibility does not make someone any less likely to lose their shit or be unpleasant to others on occasion.

[Big C]

After much thinking, I'd like to clarify that what the forum needs isn't stricter moderation, but more visible ideals for forum behavior---I don't mean more visibly posted rules, I mean... Like, model citizens or something. It's bit hard for me to explain.

You mean the expectation for non-moderator long-term folks to be held to a higher standard of civility? If so, I agree on principle, but that's not (and I think everyone here understands this) something that can be accomplished via rules. It would be nice, but unfortunately, just being high-visibility does not make someone any less likely to lose their shit or be unpleasant to others on occasion.

That and a clear example for newer posters too---like that Brutal Quake chap who could use a few pointers on introductions and keeping his cool under criticism. A message to the neophytes that says "THIS THIS GUY? ACT LIKE THIS GUY. YOU WANT TO BE LIKE THIS GUY BECAUSE HE IS AWESOME. YOU WANT TO BE AWESOME TOO."

That much said, yes, you are right.

EDIT: After much consideration and about a day and a half of exposure to all of Reddit eating itself alive, I would like to 99% retract my stance on this forum---this place is paradise. Please carry on, no more complaints from me!

[NeuralStunner]

"Welcome to Perspective. You'll like it here."

[wildweasel]

On another forum I used to frequent, users who exemplified good posting were given Elite status. Elite didn't grant much in the way of special privileges, but those folks were permitted to lock threads that they started, and also access to a VIP forum (in practice, that wasn't really used for anything).

I do feel like we should be rewarding our good users more, though. Maybe not with special bonuses, but I'm sure some genuine praise is in order for folks like Xaser, Enjay, and...others I'm having difficulty remembering right now.

[Kostov]

Write love songs to all the good folks.

[Zanieon]

On another forum I used to frequent, users who exemplified good posting were given Elite status. Elite didn't grant much in the way of special privileges, but those folks were permitted to lock threads that they started, and also access to a VIP forum (in practice, that wasn't really used for anything).

I do feel like we should be rewarding our good users more, though. Maybe not with special bonuses, but I'm sure some genuine praise is in order for folks like Xaser, Enjay, and...others I'm having difficulty remembering right now.

Maybe that classic Bad/Good Reputation system? I see many forums having it, i just dunno if Randy can implement this here via phpBB

[Big C]

On another forum I used to frequent, users who exemplified good posting were given Elite status. Elite didn't grant much in the way of special privileges, but those folks were permitted to lock threads that they started, and also access to a VIP forum (in practice, that wasn't really used for anything).

I do feel like we should be rewarding our good users more, though. Maybe not with special bonuses, but I'm sure some genuine praise is in order for folks like Xaser, Enjay, and...others I'm having difficulty remembering right now.

TerminusEst and Johnny are two I'd nominate! TerminusEst for being both an incredible mod maker and as far as I can tell an all-around nice guy, and Johnny for basically being everything that SargeMkIV isn't.