So who is minding the store?

[Lathum]

So who is actually running FOFC? I realize it is basically on autopilot, but someone has to approve new member, clean up spam bots, and moderate somewhat? As far as I can tell Ben doesn't really visit, maybe he lurks, I dunno. Anyone have an answer?

[Kodos]

Fritz has been our shadow dictator for decades.

[NobodyHere]

What's this "new member" you're talking about?

[Ghost Econ]

I think Jesus took the wheel

[Qwikshot]

Site has been dying for a while now.

[Ghost Econ]

Sportsdig is the hotness.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

What's this "new member" you're talking about?

spambots

[GrantDawg]

There are moderators. I know who a couple are, and I believe there are a couple more. I think mods have just taken a pretty "hands off" approach for some time now. To be fair, I don't know how much strict moderation would make a difference. Most of what the main complaints I see is more just people being annoyed at someone else personality than actual bannable offenses. If we banned people for having annoying personalities, I would received a lifetime ban a long time ago.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Qwikshot

Site has been dying for a while now.

I don't think anyone would deny that.

I guess what I am getting at is there a way for the people who still come around to take ownership.

[Qwikshot]

Originally Posted by Lathum

I don't think anyone would deny that.

I guess what I am getting at is there a way for the people who still come around to take ownership.

Your best bet is a sub forum that excludes certain posters until the lights finally go out.

[flere-imsaho]

While it's a shame that the "signal" portion of the forum has been diluted due to the posting volume of a particular poster, I don't think that rises to a bannable offense. It's just something we have to live with. Most people functionally ignore him anyway, unless they're bored and want to pick a fight (OK, that might just be me).

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

While it's a shame that the "signal" portion of the forum has been diluted due to the posting volume of a particular poster, I don't think that rises to a bannable offense. It's just something we have to live with. Most people functionally ignore him anyway, unless they're bored and want to pick a fight (OK, that might just be me).

The thing is, as much as I also have been caught up in his particular vortex at times and do see the problem, he is always willing to break out of an argument that is derailing a thread to create a thread just for that argument. I think the simple solution to this is for when someone sees the derailing argument coming (usually about the time he starts trying to define words in as narrow a way possible), just say "Start a new thread." Then if you want to continue to argue, go to new thread. If not, don't.
Personally what I have tried to do (not just with him) is say my piece and leave it. I'm not always successful, but I can usually do it with a couple of posters when i can tell further discussion is going nowhere. I just don't want to lose anymore people. The posters here are a little like family to me, even Jon who wishes I were dead (like some of my real family).

[Edward64]

There's always been a lack of tolerance for differing views here, its just magnified nowadays because of the additional shift to the left, less moderate/right members.

There's now a very vocal group here that believe if you don't tolerate & agree with their particular POV, you get ostracized. But that's okay, my formula is just ignore them until they attack me first, then I'll respond in kind.

And then you have that one drama queen who is still mad about being banned and exaggerates about how life is so unfair.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by Edward64

And then you have that one drama queen who is still mad about being banned and exaggerates about how life is so unfair.

It would help if you didn't actively try to bait him like this. FOFC is going extinct. Can't we at least be civil to each other?

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Kodos

It would help if you didn't actively try to bait him like this. FOFC is going extinct. Can't we at least be civil to each other?

Respectfully, if you look at the history of this particular series of posts that resulted in this thread, you'll see he was baiting me, just a post out of the blue. See

https://forums.operationsports.com/f...&postcount=238


A fair argument can be made that I should be the bigger person and ignore him. But historically, I've found a pile-on with his bros and so I feel the need to respond in kind.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Edward64

There's always been a lack of tolerance for differing views here, its just magnified nowadays because of the additional shift to the left, less moderate/right members.

There's now a very vocal group here that believe if you don't tolerate & agree with their particular POV, you get ostracized. But that's okay, my formula is just ignore them until they attack me first, then I'll respond in kind.

And then you have that one drama queen who is still mad about being banned and exaggerates about how life is so unfair.

Edward, as respectfully as I can, that is not it. It is not the disagree part that is the problem. It is how you disagree. People have pointed out to you time and time again that your style of arguing at time comes off as disingenuous. I think we both can be guilty of an over-volume of posts in a disagreement, but at times yours gets to be off-putting.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Edward64

There's always been a lack of tolerance for differing views here, its just magnified nowadays because of the additional shift to the left, less moderate/right members.

There's now a very vocal group here that believe if you don't tolerate & agree with their particular POV, you get ostracized. But that's okay, my formula is just ignore them until they attack me first, then I'll respond in kind.

And then you have that one drama queen who is still mad about being banned and exaggerates about how life is so unfair.

You realize by coming into this thread and making this post you’re doing exactly what people are accusing you of?

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Qwikshot

Your best bet is a sub forum that excludes certain posters until the lights finally go out.

I don’t want to exclude anyone, I just think we should have mods and admins that are active and present. Am I wrong in that thinking?

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Lathum

You realize by coming into this thread and making this post you’re doing exactly what people are accusing you of?

So I should ignore people when they talk or insinuate negative things about me?

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Edward64

So I should ignore people when they talk or insinuate negative things about me?

You came into this thread completely unprovoked and called someone a drama Queen who hasn’t even posted on this thread and now it’s going to become all about you again. FFS it’s not that hard. Get a dog if you need more attention.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Edward, as respectfully as I can, that is not it. It is not the disagree part that is the problem. It is how you disagree. People have pointed out to you time and time again that your style of arguing at time comes off as disingenuous. I think we both can be guilty of an over-volume of posts in a disagreement, but at times yours gets to be off-putting.

Thanks, I appreciate this constructive feedback.

All I can say it's in my work background to go define scope (e.g. what are we talking about), go deep into details, level set with definitions, questioning or challenging assumptions, tossing out pros & cons including both sides, talking about degrees of accountability etc.

I can see how this is off putting. I would just say don't engage me, ignore my posts if I offend you.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Lathum

You came into this thread completely unprovoked and called someone a drama Queen who hasn’t even posted on this thread and now it’s going to become all about you again. FFS it’s not that hard. Get a dog if you need more attention.

Okay. I assumed this thread started because of the discussion happening in the other thread. There are several posts here referencing me.

But I agree, if you don't want me in this thread that you started, I'll apologize and go away until someone specifically attacks me. Hope that is fair and reasonable.

[Qwikshot]

Originally Posted by Lathum

I don’t want to exclude anyone, I just think we should have mods and admins that are active and present. Am I wrong in that thinking?

Sadly in this day and age, yes.

Maybe thread headers that bar specific posters from interacting. Some posters don’t belong in some of the discussions, until they prove otherwise. They can read it but not interact in it. Of course they shouldn’t be discussed in the thread either.

[Qwikshot]

There are just some people not practiced in the etiquette of keeping quiet when they should. Keep ‘em out of the discussion lord knows if they make enough threads they can talk to themselves.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Lathum

So who is actually running FOFC? I realize it is basically on autopilot, but someone has to approve new member, clean up spam bots, and moderate somewhat? As far as I can tell Ben doesn't really visit, maybe he lurks, I dunno. Anyone have an answer?

You trying to find out who's favored bitch you are now?

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

Within the past month (?) Legend Bowl for the consoles, pro strategy football for the pc and axis football for the pc have been released and there has been zero discussion on any of it. And of course there is madden, college football coach, draft day sports football and front office football in general. I am not saying the recent games that have been released are great, but when this board was more active, there would have been discussion and exploration of these titles.

People now discuss those games on discord and reddit. Discord is like the old aol chat rooms for zoomers, I just can't believe it has gained a foothold. I see how much chatter there is on those sites and I wish it were here instead.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Qwikshot

Sadly in this day and age, yes.

Maybe thread headers that bar specific posters from interacting. Some posters don’t belong in some of the discussions, until they prove otherwise. They can read it but not interact in it. Of course they shouldn’t be discussed in the thread either.

So wait, you think the people in charge of this board shouldn't be present and active?

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Atocep

You trying to find out who's favored bitch you are now?

lol.

I'm just asking questions...

[QuikSand]

I am among the appointed site moderators, and since I still frequent the place, I end up tending to a fair share of the bot banning and so forth, just to keep the place physically tidy.

To be totally honest, I just don't have the patience, stomach, will, or inclination to spend a ton of time reading through bullshit bickering to try to make a determination, or contribute to one, whether a certain forum denizen crossed some line when he said this or that thing. I am glad to give slivers of my time for nothing to help the place function without becoming a nuisance, but am not as willing to do so to police other members and their conduct.

I know there are always the aggrieved parties of the moment who are angry that moderation is too present/absent, usually based on the very last thing that did or did not happen. I, personally, just don't have the capacity to take on a role larger than the sort of community watch member that I am now.

[Qwikshot]

Originally Posted by Lathum

So wait, you think the people in charge of this board shouldn't be present and active?

The reality is that we don’t have active moderators. This is all volunteer based yes, not someone’s full time job.

Unless we’re going to pay for this, we have to manage in some capacity. I’ve seen worse boards. I offered some insight, I’ve stated in some of those threads not to engage because you aren’t changing that leopards spots.

It’s annoying because someone who has Reddit fever is adding a multitude of threads or posts. It’s better just to exclude or not engage any input and shun them from the conversation.

You aren’t going to get more than that sadly. Not my choice, just my observation.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by LastWhiteSoxFanStanding

Within the past month (?) Legend Bowl for the consoles, pro strategy football for the pc and axis football for the pc have been released and there has been zero discussion on any of it. And of course there is madden, college football coach, draft day sports football and front office football in general. I am not saying the recent games that have been released are great, but when this board was more active, there would have been discussion and exploration of these titles.

People now discuss those games on discord and reddit. Discord is like the old aol chat rooms for zoomers, I just can't believe it has gained a foothold. I see how much chatter there is on those sites and I wish it were here instead.

I totally agree about Discord. Other than the voice chat feature that is nice for gaming with friends, I don't get Discord at all. It is a horrible way to discuss things.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Qwikshot

The reality is that we don’t have active moderators. This is all volunteer based yes, not someone’s full time job.

Unless we’re going to pay for this, we have to manage in some capacity. I’ve seen worse boards. I offered some insight, I’ve stated in some of those threads not to engage because you aren’t changing that leopards spots.

It’s annoying because someone who has Reddit fever is adding a multitude of threads or posts. It’s better just to exclude or not engage any input and shun them from the conversation.

You aren’t going to get more than that sadly. Not my choice, just my observation.

Maybe I'm not expressing myself well.

I am not saying we need to have someone reading every thread and on call 24/7. I used to run a facebook group of close to 1000 people, I get it isn't reality.

My point is more the people who in theory are in charge of this community aren't active members, and in fact are largely absent.

That just strikes me as odd. The facebook group I built from the ground up, but when I was no longer engaged I gave it up to someone who was active. Just makes no sense to me to be in charge of something you're really not interested in being a part of.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

I am among the appointed site moderators, and since I still frequent the place, I end up tending to a fair share of the bot banning and so forth, just to keep the place physically tidy.

To be totally honest, I just don't have the patience, stomach, will, or inclination to spend a ton of time reading through bullshit bickering to try to make a determination, or contribute to one, whether a certain forum denizen crossed some line when he said this or that thing. I am glad to give slivers of my time for nothing to help the place function without becoming a nuisance, but am not as willing to do so to police other members and their conduct.

I know there are always the aggrieved parties of the moment who are angry that moderation is too present/absent, usually based on the very last thing that did or did not happen. I, personally, just don't have the capacity to take on a role larger than the sort of community watch member that I am now.

And we all appreciate that.

I'm not saying we should be under new management or anything like that. Flash posted about a ban and it made me wonder.

[flere-imsaho]

IMO, the forum just isn't busy enough and doesn't attract enough new members to merit any sort of moderation above and beyond the "basic housekeeping" that QuikSand described (and which we appreciate, otherwise this place would be overrun by bots).

And I speak as someone who generally thinks contentious discussions should be moderated.

The "doesn't attract new people" part if key, IMO. If we had a regular group of new posters encountering Edward & Jon, it might be a problem. But if you go to the Members List and sort by "Last Visit", you'll see that pretty much the only regular poster to have joined in the past 5 years is Ghost Econ. And mainly everyone who's a regular poster joined prior to 2010. I mean, look at the join dates in this thread.


If this was a more active board that attracted new members I might be concerned about people wasting their time with Edward's method of argumentation, or his posts & threads cluttering things up, or people being put off by Jon's racism & bigotry, but it's not that kind of board. We know who everyone is. I'm sure everyone's got a profile of me in their head, and when I post you just see it that way. And that's fine.

[cartman]

I'm now in charge. I demand flere start his NFL cartoons again. That's my first decree

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by cartman

I'm now in charge. I demand flere start his NFL cartoons again. That's my first decree

I second this motion.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by cartman

I'm now in charge. I demand flere start his NFL cartoons again. That's my first decree

Thanks Mr. Haig

[GrantDawg]

If you are not old enough to get that reference, then this probably isn't the board for you.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by Edward64

There's always been a lack of tolerance for differing views here, its just magnified nowadays because of the additional shift to the left, less moderate/right members.

There's now a very vocal group here that believe if you don't tolerate & agree with their particular POV, you get ostracized. But that's okay, my formula is just ignore them until they attack me first, then I'll respond in kind.

And then you have that one drama queen who is still mad about being banned and exaggerates about how life is so unfair.

seriously stop trying to start fights

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by Lathum

So who is actually running FOFC? I realize it is basically on autopilot, but someone has to approve new member, clean up spam bots, and moderate somewhat? As far as I can tell Ben doesn't really visit, maybe he lurks, I dunno. Anyone have an answer?

Member joining has always been instant at least as far back as I knew. Dunno if they changed it to have to be approved.

[CrimsonFox]

I never really thought of this place as dying. It just always is. People come and go but usually come back eventually. I've taken breaks myself. But I do find this is one place I can come and enjoy the comedy of comments on the modern world. People can say things and don't have to worry about the world freaking out about it. It's just an easygoing place. I actually like to get my news from here more than other places. It softens the blow.

As for people that aren't here anymore. I DO miss the old werewolf crew.
Narcizo, hoopsguy, J23, Zinto, JAG, Autumn, TheJackal, the list goes on.

Every now and then I try to coerce Eaglefan and Sackattack back when there's a videogame thread. I talk to them on steam occasionally.

Pumpytudors absence is very much felt too.


As for new people, if you want new people we've all got to recruit people. I've tried to get a couple friends to join up that I think would like it here. But the weird thing about forums is so many people are so stuck in the notion that they can only be on one site period. And won't venture out to other places.

[molson]

I think the board kind of already died, we're just the ones hanging out in the school parking lot years after graduation like a bunch of losers.

[CrimsonFox]

This thread reminded me of this klunker sitcom about a pair of strippers that have their freinds babysit their kids.

[sovereignstar v2]

Originally Posted by molson

I think the board kind of already died, we're just the ones hanging out in the school parking lot years after graduation like a bunch of losers.

To quote a great Texan, "alright alright alright"