Journal of Other Forum Analysis (Volume II, Issue 1)

[Boredfrom]

People getting distracted by this dog and pony show should know better by now.

Don't be so fucking gullible.

Don’t be retarded and stop thinking Musk and Trump have long term plans.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/trump-says-he-is-very-disappointed-in-elon-musk-and-suggests-he-has-trump-derangement-syndrome.1208508/page-15#post-141005721

[Daffy Duck]

B-Cucks:

I'm locking this for now and odds are most of you won't be allowed back on when we're done here.

Holy crap, this is embarrassing.

Odds of him NOT making the worst and dumbest decision possible for the situation?

What thread was locked?

[Taco Bell Tower]

B-Cucks:

I'm locking this for now and odds are most of you won't be allowed back on when we're done here.

Holy crap, this is embarrassing.

Odds of him NOT making the worst and dumbest decision possible for the situation?

What thread was locked?

Community constructive.

[Taco Bell Tower]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/i%E2%80%99m-tired-of-the-transphobia-regarding-the-rumors-of-hunter-schafer-being-cast-as-zelda.1204014/page-7#post-140997210

Do I want it? Yes
Do I think it'll happen? Maybe, leaning towards no

Freya Allan seems more likely to me based off having just worked with the director on the last Apes film. But who knows what her scheduling is like because of The Witcher

LoomianDev

Freya Allan is probably too old.

She's 23 

LoomianDev

Not in general. I meant for the director.

Barius

I'm confused, wouldn't Hunter be too old in that case too since she's 26?

[HeavenIsAPlaceOnEarth]

Nep escaped encouraging users to burn themselves alive as a protest just like the crazy ass soldier did.

To be fair, he did completely solve the Israel/Palestine issue, which is why we all know his name and celebrate him.

[DavidCroquet]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/i-dont-agree-with-violence-for-violence-sake-but-i-also-believe-you-should-get-back-what-you-put-out-in-the-world.1208826/

Slayven playing it tactical.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/i-dont-agree-with-violence-for-violence-sake-but-i-also-believe-you-should-get-back-what-you-put-out-in-the-world.1208826/#post-141004791

behavior like trying to use a coupon, for example

One wonders if she has even looked at community constructive? At this point it is pretty clear that the class knows Nepenthe is an enthusiastic supporter of heaping all manner of abuse upon whatever targets may present themselves.

[Shecky Fragbaum]

Smol bean 

Yuge fart.

[DocWager]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/i-dont-agree-with-violence-for-violence-sake-but-i-also-believe-you-should-get-back-what-you-put-out-in-the-world.1208826/

Slayven playing it tactical.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/i-dont-agree-with-violence-for-violence-sake-but-i-also-believe-you-should-get-back-what-you-put-out-in-the-world.1208826/#post-141004791

behavior like trying to use a coupon, for example

One wonders if she has even looked at community constructive? At this point it is pretty clear that the class knows Nepenthe is an enthusiastic supporter of heaping all manner of abuse upon whatever targets may present themselves.

She must be having a real bad week at the pharmacy

[BIONIC]

Nep escaped encouraging users to burn themselves alive as a protest just like the crazy ass soldier did.

To be fair, he did completely solve the Israel/Palestine issue, which is why we all know his name and celebrate him.

Rest in power, Albert Einstein

[Snoopy]

Don't worry folks the thread's open again with a huge post from Hecht explaining how Nep's teeth helped him understand the plight of poc. Also she did nothing wrong because everybody has alts and laughs at the reetards. Factually correct but still. Anyway, the thin blue line has held.

[simiansmarts]

So Nep is never getting banned, huh? She's just gonna keep breaking the rules of the forum, spouting the most inane psycho drivel and everyone is gonna have to live with it.

[HaughtyFrank]

I leave for three days to go to a funeral and…sigh.  Anyway, apologies, novel incoming.

So, a quick aside, I always wondered, what's the difference between a mod and an admin on this site? I understand why B-Dubs would be an admin and perhaps DownUnderCoder, but the rest are either Mod Captains(whatever that is, like does each captain have their own posse or something) or no extra title. Do admins get special permissions or benefits over mods, or is a residual title left over from when Era used to be independent? Like could an admin freely change their tag from admin to moderator if they wished?

I ask because I got the perception over the years that all members on the team (admins or not) decide and vote on various rules and policies and how to enforce them, but perhaps only admins do that?

Admins have access to a lot of site functions that Moderators do not - things like alt checks, notifications, etc., those are all done by admins since we have that access.  We do have specific admins as "Mod Captains," (Mod Captains - essentially the "lead" for moderating decisions.  While we definitely let moderators have agency with a ton of moderation, for things like longer bans or when the moderators can't come to a consensus, the captains will make the final decision) but honestly all the admins tend to take part in that role to some extent.  For instance, I do a few side projects on the site (GOTY, the Gaming Headlines feed, some other tech things, etc.) as well as a lot of alt-checking and account approvals, documentation, etc., so I'm not primarily a "Mod Captain."  But I still assist with moderating duties as they come up.

I think there is a large power imbalance when it comes to moderating staff and normal users. If a moderator or admin sees a user being toxic, they are often times instantly banned or warned. 90% of the time these actions are warranted but there are multiple scenarios where this is just not the case and it takes the community rising up in arms to contest or the fact that the person has to just straight up take the L. Meanwhile, the staff has the benefit of the bias of their fellow peers (not the entire monolith) due to time spent knowing each other, a private moderation/staff discord to explain their thought process (whether it's truthful or a lie) to prevent repercussions, and the optics of their "good intentions" explanation provided to the userbase provided after the fact.

You're not wrong.  But it's the reality of what we have to do in order to actually keep this train moving.  Maintaining a healthy staff roster is difficult enough as-is; if we had to actually remove staff members when they do something out of line (and I do want to say that thankfully these instances are few and far between), we'd have to be recruiting non-stop and having any sort of stability would be incredibly hard.



Now, all that said, we do try to emphasize to staff that their posts should be held to a higher standard - try not to take sides (I mean, I'm talking about like fanboy shit, not whether or not say, genocide is good or bad), try not to step in shit by carefully wording your posts...things like that.  And I'd like to think we hit that mark way more often than not.  But shit does happen.  I think everyone on staff has stepped in it one way or another at one point.  At that point we bring that person aside, explain the issue, and try to figure out a way to move on - an apology, an explanation, or something of that sort.  We may even ask them to go on break for a while to cool off.  In extreme cases, we've removed some people from staff - usually if the issue is so large that it overshadows any benefit they're bringing to the site as a staff member.  Obviously users don't get that same treatment - their alternative is to be warned or banned temporarily, and then hopefully they can recognize their problematic behavior and fix it.  Hell, we get tickets all the time either asking for clarification on the ban if they didn't understand it, and we typically provide more detail if they need it (not all of our tickets are people calling us cucks, thankfully, but I do treasure those - thank you, you know who you are). I know it's not "fair," and I'm not gonna pretend like it is.



But the short version is staff needs to be better about their attitude when posting, and hopefully then we don't have to have this issue as frequently (it'll never be perfect - some day a topic is gonna hit hard for say, me, and I'm probably gonna say something I regret because I'm incredibly passionate about it, someone's going to say something I find wildly inappropriate and I'm gonna go off, I'm sure).



Now, about the current topic:



==========================================



I'll just get my perspective out of the way first. Feel free to disagree, I'm not here to convince anyone otherwise.



(Disclaimer: I've struggled with my weight for most of my life - making weight for military fitness tests was always a fun time, let me tell you.  Even when I ran cross country (varsity, even!) it's been tough.  I've definitely been fat before, and while I'm in a good spot now, it hasn't been easy.  I'm incredibly sensitive about my weight, but I'm pretty good about not letting others' words affect me - it's mostly an internal monologue constantly yelling at me being a fatass.  I'm my own worst enemy).



Mockery, whether directed at a person's physical features or otherwise, is generally, you know, wrong. Just don't be dicks to random people.  Now, if you put me in a room with, say, Elon Musk, I will absolutely tell him his dick is broken and laugh about his hair loss, because he's a fucking asshole and has those insecurities, and mockery is one of the ways to affect people in power.  I wouldn't do it because I think those things are necessarily "bad," but because I know it will hurt him.  I want him to feel like shit.  You get all these "alpha male" idiots out there who won't be affected by telling them that they're "mean," or "assholes," or any other comment that might make an average person feel like shit - you attack them where it hurts: their pride, their "manliness" (or lack thereof), their insecurities.  They build their entire identities around those things, and someone makes fun of them for it? They'll rage, say something stupid, or retreat back to their clubs where they can tell each other how big and strong they are.  They are the ones subscribing to the toxic masculinity bullshit, so pointing out that they aren't as manly as they think they are is cathartic and useful.  It's not necessary by itself, nor is it sufficient by itself, but it is a tool that can be used to influence how they are perceived.



Now if you put me in a similar scenario, but we're out in public with a bunch of strangers whom I don't wish anything bad towards? I'll attack it from a different angle.  The other people might end up with collateral damage from my words, because it's insensitive and I don't want to make them feel bad.  Same with posting about it on the forum here - Trump or Musk aren't gonna read my words, but people here who struggle with their own insecurities will. Know your audience.  I, personally, am able to distinguish between insults thrown at some asshole and not take them to mean the person is saying that about everyone, but that's not something everyone does or reasonably can do, and I don't expect them to.  Insecurities are hard. They suck, and if it were easy to control them, psychologists would be out of a job.  Better to just not do it in the first place. Ideally, society would just stop harping on these traits and considering them faulty, but clearly we aren't there yet.



The short version of all that is that I don't really care if you go tell some dipshit they are fat or whatever, but go do it somewhere else where a) they are actually gonna see it, and b) where other people aren't going to be affected by it.



==========================================



Ok, now the rest of the conversation. Seems like there are a few points to go over, from both members of staff and users. Again, I'm just trying to reconcile the two sides here to a point where we can agree, or agree to disagree, or whatever.



I can understand why there was a connection made between things like small dick comments and things like racial comments - they're both things people have no control over. You're born how you're born.  And I can understand the difference between mockery vs some sort of systemic discrimination or bias (e.g., social standards and the like for things like height - I'm short as fuck for a man, lol).  That said, I don't think it's super beneficial to try to rank the various qualities in order to say "well X has it worse than Y," and that's kinda where the initial topic went off the rails.  Stick with me, I already know what you're thinking.



There are two areas here.

Qualities that are specific to you. What I mean is that these are things that you, personally, are insecure about, struggle with, etc.  Everyone has them, but they are different for everyone.  "I am ugly," "I am overweight," or "I am short" - things that you don't necessarily like about yourself and you have heightened sensitivities around them.
Qualities that are systemically discriminated against.  This is stuff like your race, your sex, etc. These affect people on a much grander scale than point #1.
The second one is more consequential, in the sense that it affects large numbers of people in a more fundamental way - you deserve to be mocked/discriminated against because you are part of group X. The first one isn't any less important, but it's how one personally feels rather than how a group is treated.  Sure, people can deal with their own insecurities in various ways - some have better boundaries set up, some are able to just ignore the jibes at their features, or any number of things, but the second group doesn't have that luxury, to an extent.  They can grit their teeth and maybe ignore any single instance of mockery, but it's still a fundamental barrier that they have to deal with every day.



But that's why I say it's not really beneficial to compare the two - they're very different aspects of ridicule.  Sure, I don't have to worry about people insulting me because I'm Black or gay, because I'm neither of those things, but I have my own individual things that I'm sensitive about, and those are important to me.  I obviously care about those other things, but they don't affect me personally, because they can't.  The widespread bigotry is a more patently pressing issue, but we can still walk and chew gum at the same time.



It's not impossible to have your own personal boundaries while also acknowledging the existence of other, more pervasive forms of ridicule. It's not black-or-white and it's not a competition. Your personal feelings over your "imperfections," or whatever you want to call them, are still valid regardless.  It's not your fault that you feel these things.  But, you are the only one that can work on how you respond to those feelings.



I think EatChildren summed it up pretty well:

And while I personally might feel that people should give less of a shit about balding, height, weight gain, aging, etc, beyond just trying to look after their health and betterment of being, I cannot allow my personal feelings, or my idealistic view of human interaction, to ignore the reality of the now.

The next piece is "making assumptions" about other users and general aggression:



Now, I'm gonna essentially be calling out the forum, staff and members alike, but this is a problem online, everywhere, period.  Someone makes a statement and it's taken to the logical (or illogical) extreme.  I'm guilty of it, and I'd wager most of the people reading this are as well.  It's hard to overcome when you're conditioned to the current online environment, where extreme things ARE being posted and the quiet parts are becoming louder and louder.



For this topic in particular, we've got people who look at the OP and assume that because they're posting about small dicks and baldness, that they are ignoring more pressing matters, like racism.  Or, someone said that they're ok with mocking assholes this way, so another user said "oh, so you're probably fine with saying r*tard and f*ggot, huh" (paraphrasing).



Come on.





Everything sucks. We all know this.  But for fuck's sake, we're posting on a video game forum.  The entire reason anyone is here in the first place is to talk about a hobby that is inherently capitalistic and is, generally, a waste of time (someone is going to read into this particular clause something that isn't there. For that user(s), you know what I mean, dammit).  But gaming is an enjoyable pastime, and we all can certainly use the escape from time to time. We aren't going to change the world from our computers here.  People can certainly educate other people on things that are going on (and they should! Nobody knows everything!), and there are perfectly good times to do that without turning something small into a Big Deal™.



I've repeated this often enough to people here: Don't be an asshole.  Almost all of our rules, the reasons anyone gets banned, can be boiled down to that.  Part of that includes not escalating things that don't need to be turned into mountains from molehills.  I touched on what we try to do on the staff side of the house, and it's an ongoing process, but we can't fix how users behave.  Either people act like adults and hold conversations in a relatively normal way, or they don't, and they're shown the door eventually.  And that starts with every single user - act the way you want other users to act.  If people can't change their behavior, they'll eventually be watching the site from outside.



This bit of a post from B-Dubs dovetails nicely with this:

You can't even say we don't ban people for being jerks because we very blatantly do. The problem is that some of you feel like being jerks is totally justified because you feel "in the right" and that it gives you free rein to be a jerk. The number of times I've been quoted and the person has totally misrepresented what I posted is absurd and it's largely because you guys are all on discord with your buddies and convince each other that someone is saying something they haven't actually said. Or you're just assuming that they're making the same point that someone you saw on Twitter make.

Heck, in this thread we literally had people argue that they should be allowed to be jerks.

This hits the nail on the head for a lot of what we see.  We love seeing people make their case in a discussion. We love when people bring up facts and figures and whatnot that destroys someone else's facile argument.  Good posters do that, and that's something that should be encouraged.  But it's true - many users come out swinging because they know they're correct about something, and then people cry foul when they're banned because, you guessed it, they're being an asshole. And then come the comments like "Staff banned a prominent [insert marginalized/underrepresented group here] member because they were [a member of that group]!" Which, fine, if that's how you want to take that, whatever.  It's not like we haven't heard it before.  You would not believe the discussions we end up having when it comes to these things, because we understand the "optics" of it - "yeah, the person is right, and there's a lot of good info/arguments in their post(s), and they're speaking from their lived experience, but it's surrounded by them being a total jackass to other users."  Believe me or not, but it IS something we try to take into account.  But if that member is derailing everything and just slinging stones everywhere, sometimes we have to do something for the sake of the thread.  It has nothing to do with who they are, it's about what they are doing.



If you think someone is sealioning or trolling in some other way, you can report it. We're no stranger to the concept, we can generally catch it when we see it based on the user's history of posting.  Sometimes people just need a moment to cool off - that's typically what we use threadbans for.  We're more than happy to rescind threadbans and site bans if the member has cooled off, recognized what the issue was, or we misunderstood something in their post.  We aren't against doing that - we'd love to do it more often, in fact.  But what we aren't going to do is do that because that user "is correct," or "a long-time member" or whatever - they weren't banned for those reasons, they were banned for being a jerk.



Tl;dr (for members AND staff):

Don't feed the trolls
Don't take the bait
Don't automatically assume that the member in question is saying something they aren't
Don't be an asshole


On Nepenthe:



This is probably going to be rambly, because I like to just vomit words onto a page and then only make minor edits.



So, Nep and I have been here since...uh...well I was here at the start, and she came a little later, but it's all a blur. It's a long time. And I'm obviously going to have some bias due to the working relationship we've had.  But I'm not above providing criticism and feedback to my friends when they need it, cause let's be honest, that's something people should do more.



Disclaimer: I'm of course letting her read this before posting it.  You criticize in private and praise in public - that's just being a good person.  I'm not planning on editing much, though, unless I absolutely have to.



I'll start with the good. Nep has taught me a lot (like seriously, a loooot) about damn near every aspect of social justice, intersectionality, and pretty much anything related.  She hasn't been the only one, I tend to reach out to a variety of people if I'm interested in learning more, but she's been a constant resource for me.  She's generally level-headed, she's incredibly helpful if I need assistance with anything, and she's happy (ok, well as happy as any of us can be, lol) to work on various projects and such for the site with me.  She's also someone I can go to if I need to vent about anything, and vice-versa.  I respect the hell out of her, and to be frank, I think the site would be much worse off if she wasn't around - she knows her shit, which is great, and…well, more on that in a sec.  While we don't always agree on things, she's generally able to have a discussion and even if we end up doing something different, I always value what she has to say, because there's at least usually something I learn from it.



She's also incredibly passionate about many things, primarily with topics like organizing, race, LGBTQ+, and gender, which, while something I find noble and refreshing, can also be a point of contention.  As we see with many users on the site, in addition to some staff, there's a bunch of bullshit going on in the world and we all more or less have a reason to be infuriated and aggrieved.  There's nothing inherently wrong with venting, or even just having a bit of fire behind your words - it's really more about who the recipient is, and whether we're turning the attention towards ourselves instead of the topic at hand.  For the most part, the people who need to hear your ire are not members of this site. Other members are not your enemy - maybe y'all have different opinions about how to do certain things politically, and sure, people are going to disagree and think that the other side is completely wrong or even ineffectual, but this is a community of people that can, and must, be able to discuss these things without turning it into a battlefield. You're not going to be able to convince everyone about something; at some point you need to realize that it's not moving forward and you can move on to something/someone else. We all have different life circumstances. We all could be doing more IRL. We all have blind spots. We need to understand that more often than not, our words aren't coming from a place of malice. At worst it's ignorance, at best it's a misunderstanding.  Both of these can be resolved via discussion - the former, with someone learning about something they didn't know enough about, and the latter, with clarification. Neither of which involve assuming the worst version of whatever the person said.



And that goes for staff as well.  We're no stranger to assuming the worst about a post - we have to discuss things to figure out what the poster actually meant a lot of times.  Maybe they clarified later in the thread, or apologized for poor wording or not knowing enough about the topic.  It happens, and as I mentioned before, we're happy to rescind any bans or warnings if we misunderstood something.

As an aside, my wife is similar - she works in a counseling field and is incredibly strong-hearted about anything social justice-related. Which, well, that often ends up with her coming across as abrasive, loud, and more or less a pain in the ass at work. She means well, and I love her for her passion, but because she also knows her shit, she gets frustrated by the speed of change (or rather, the lack thereof) and the reticence to change, which, well, you know. It doesn't come out in the most productive ways. I'm usually there to help her get her message across in other ways, or at least helping her prioritize the things she wants to affect.

Anyway, I'm not going to go down the rabbit hole of Nep's experience being a black, queer woman on staff (and in life in general), because a) I'm sure I won't do it justice, and b) it shouldn't be much of a secret at this point.  But you can imagine the line I'm trying to toe in telling that person that they need to temper their words in some way, especially when she's a target for every dipshit from the rest of the internet who has a bone to pick with her because of her identity and role here.



So with the thread in question, I think this was a case of time and place not lining up.  I think there's plenty of truth in her posts, but I don't think that thread really needed it - as I discussed earlier on, yeah, small dick/baldness jibes aren't as consequential as things like systemic racism, but that doesn't mean they aren't important to discuss in some way.  And because of that, the thread derailed and became a focus on Nep instead of the topic at large.  Which is something we shouldn't be doing.

Another side note: Many, many moons ago, I wrote a guide for staff called "Hecht's Guide to Not Putting Your Foot in Your Mouth." Here's some relevant excerpts:

You're Customer Service!
Snarky heading aside, imagine this is a retail job. Most customers are fine - they come in, do their thing, and leave without any issue. Every now and again, you'll get customers who want to kick up a fuss, want to speak to a manager, and the like. Now, as a retail employee, the main thing to do is to keep calm rather than escalate. If your manager finally shows up and finds the customer on the ground because your response to "I bought this charcoal grill and it doesn't work with propane" is to deploy a haymaker, you're probably going to be fired.
This job is thankless, but every now and again we do get some thanks or well-wishes, and I genuinely appreciate them when they come in. But most users are just "there" - posting, discussing, not really leaving a blip on our radar. That's perfectly fine.
Our job is to not escalate things if at all possible. Users can do that between themselves without us ever needing to contribute to that

So You Forgot to Do the Dishes
If you've ever been in a relationship, there have undoubtedly been times where an argument arises that is just...nonsensical, or one party ends up defending themselves because they feel slighted and just...want to defend themselves. Like there's been a really dumb argument going on with my wife about when we were in Korea, and I had to use the bathroom, and there was a doughnut in a sealed bag in my backpack that I was wearing. When I came out, my wife refused to eat her doughnut because it had been brought into the restroom (again, in a sealed package). I thought she was nuts (and truth be told, it still annoys me). So we argued for a long time and eventually I realized that this was stupid and just disengaged.
You don't have to say "You're right." You just have to stop posting. Or even just an "agree to disagree." If the user in question wants to continue their argument and they decide to escalate, then fine! We can deal with them later without worrying about our involvement.

We're Firefighters, not Arsonists
This one is relatively simple. If you are having doubts about what you're about to post, it's perfectly fine to just not post it. The thread will continue on without your input. If you feel that you can bring some unique perspective to that thread but are unsure about your wording or content, please bring it up in Discord and we can all make sure that there's nothing there that should cause a stir.

Lastly, I'll touch on the "laughing at posts" thing. Probably shouldn't advertise when one does that. I mean sure, come on, there are plenty of dumb/weird/outlandish posts on this site - and I'm completely aware the same stuff is happening in your Discords, so I'm not really super sympathetic to the outrage, but yeah - it's not the sort of thing anyone should be saying out loud, even if everyone is likely doing it, especially coming from a staff member.



All this is to say that yeah, it was an issue, and while I can agree with some of the points that were made, it was a battle that didn't need to be fought at that time.  Staff being human has caused plenty of headaches over the years, and it likely will never go away, because it's a moving target, but when it does come up, we gotta recognize it and resolve to do better.  We're here because we want to be, and while I can definitely say we don't deserve the level of bullshit we have to deal with, you all don't deserve to have it thrown back at you either.

Just a big load of shit. Most who called out nepnep or her buddy got a week long ban and a threadban. Amethyst got a 1 week ban. Limpdick Small dick shit

[BIONIC]

Betting on WORST AND DUMBEST POSSIBLE DECISION never fails

[Jansen]

This is the best

[Propagandhim]

You're not wrong.  But it's the reality of what we have to do in order to actually keep this train moving.  Maintaining a healthy staff roster is difficult enough as-is; if we had to actually remove staff members when they do something out of line (and I do want to say that thankfully these instances are few and far between), we'd have to be recruiting non-stop and having any sort of stability would be incredibly hard.

Stability

It's a fucking video game forum, not the Department of Justice.  Just say you don't want to punish one of your own because you're a typical cop, dipshit.   

[Gameboy Nostalgia]

Babydonthurtme 1
PoliEra 0

he still won't be getting discord invites though 

[HeavenIsAPlaceOnEarth]

[books]

I ain't reading all that tripe. Literal high school debate class strategy in written form.

Edit- Nep gonna go on a banning spree soon. Furious vengeance incoming so lowly users know their place.

[ClothedMac]

Here's a simple question for Hecht.  There seems to be a pattern of nepenthe entering a thread, things get "heated," and then b-dubs locks the thread because of said, "heat."  What can be done to stop that?

[HaughtyFrank]

You're not wrong.  But it's the reality of what we have to do in order to actually keep this train moving.  Maintaining a healthy staff roster is difficult enough as-is; if we had to actually remove staff members when they do something out of line (and I do want to say that thankfully these instances are few and far between), we'd have to be recruiting non-stop and having any sort of stability would be incredibly hard.

Stability

It's a fucking video game forum, not the Department of Justice.  Just say you don't want to punish one of your own because you're a typical cop, dipshit.   

Its funny how he just admits it. Rules for thee but not for me.

[Taco Bell Tower]

So, a quick aside, I always wondered, what's the difference between a mod and an admin on this site? I understand why B-Dubs would be an admin and perhaps DownUnderCoder, but the rest are either Mod Captains(whatever that is, like does each captain have their own posse or something) or no extra title. Do admins get special permissions or benefits over mods, or is a residual title left over from when Era used to be independent? Like could an admin freely change their tag from admin to moderator if they wished?

I ask because I got the perception over the years that all members on the team (admins or not) decide and vote on various rules and policies and how to enforce them, but perhaps only admins do that?

Admins have access to a lot of site functions that Moderators do not - things like alt checks, notifications, etc., those are all done by admins since we have that access.  We do have specific admins as "Mod Captains," (Mod Captains - essentially the "lead" for moderating decisions.  While we definitely let moderators have agency with a ton of moderation, for things like longer bans or when the moderators can't come to a consensus, the captains will make the final decision) but honestly all the admins tend to take part in that role to some extent.  For instance, I do a few side projects on the site (GOTY, the Gaming Headlines feed, some other tech things, etc.) as well as a lot of alt-checking and account approvals, documentation, etc., so I'm not primarily a "Mod Captain."  But I still assist with moderating duties as they come up.

Finally, I have always wondered wtf were mod captains 

[books]

Who even needs mod captains? Antisemitism amd racism is two weeks; cyberpunk, Harry potter, kingdom come mentions and/or antagonizing Nep or other prominent (never been proven) members is perm.

Edit- Waiting for an Embiid redemption post that isn't ever going to come.

[clockwork5]

So if it’s ok to publicly mock people in power, it stands to reason that members should be free to mock General Manager B-Dubs’ bald ass head that he has been insecure about ever since he was trying to elongate his tiny dick back in his 20’s. 

Oh it’s due to his auto-immune disease? Well, it’s not my responsibility to take you to the doctor you blighted ghoul. Maybe pull up your white-man pants and get better. Freak.

[HaughtyFrank]

Who even needs mod captains? Antisemitism amd racism is two weeks; cyberpunk, Harry potter, kingdom come mentions and/or antagonizing Nep or other prominent (never been proven) members is perm.

Edit- Waiting for an Embiid redemption post that isn't ever going to come.

Embiid got a 5 day ban for daring to question why Amethyst is defending nepnep so hard

"I had nothing to actually say so I looked up your post history." Loser. We're all fucking randos.

Ehh, he got a point. All your recent history is posting in this thread, shitting on B-dubs, and defending Nepenthe. I'm not saying you're her alt but you're obviously at least pretty tight. Maybe make that context known before dropping 10,000 word novellas shitting on the community carte blanche. Straight up embarrassing.

User banned (5 days): inflammatory accusations; 1 month threadban

[BIONIC]

All I'm gonna say is I've catched month long bans for saying stuff that's waaaaay milder than some of the shit that was posted last page.

Bans now dropping:

User banned (permanent): Misrepresenting ban history. Prior bans for misogyny, conspiracy theories, hostility, downplaying racism, and other unacceptable behavior.

Here’s all the ones I could find:

AmethystArcana

User banned (1 week): attacking other users over a series of posts; permanent threadban

User banned (5 days): inflammatory accusations; 1 month threadban

Not to get myself in trouble, but some rando who barely posts on the board and every single post since 2021 has been in here or another official thread like it and then with a post like this is more than a little sus.
And every post is pretty much just fluffing mods and staff? Go back to whatever cave you came from.
Just like the posts that started this whole thing you come in doing the same exact blather and handwave what everyone feels or says.

Just want to say this is an incredible post and you've confronted the issue better than I could have. Thank you.

User threadbanned (1 month): trolling

They're not going to invite you to the discord, mate.

User banned (5 days): inflammatory accusations; 1 month threadban

Gee, I wonder who wrote this infantile diatribe.

User banned (5 days): inflammatory accusations; 1 month threadban

Ehh, he got a point. All your recent history is posting in this thread, shitting on B-dubs, and defending Nepenthe. I’m not saying you’re her alt but you’re obviously at least pretty tight. Maybe make that context known before dropping 10,000 word novellas shitting on the community carte blanche. Straight up embarrassing.

User banned (5 days): inflammatory accusations; 1 month threadban

Yeah this

Their post history is worth questioning when you look at it

It’s also pretty normal behavior when you see someone you don’t recognize light up a thread with a spicy post and wonder what’s going on there. I do this fairly regularly with other people to get some kind of context into their background and where they’re coming from (especially if I’m thinking about replying to them)

User banned (2 weeks): conspiracy theories; permanent threadban


Sorry, but if an admin resorts to using what is, at best, a proxy to attack her critics on the 'Constructive Community Discussion' thread, then we've long passed the point where bald head jokes are the real issue.

User threadbanned: attacking staff for not dealing with a thread in the middle of the night

So are some of you guys actually accusing Nepenthe of using an alt account or what? I feel like some people are trying to skirt around possible mod actions by being vague as fuck and only implying things, but all that does is muddy the conversation even more and make people more suspicious and poised to misinterpret each other in an already pretty intense thread.

The last couple of pages in here have been a mess, and most of it stems from people from all sides being needlessly hostile and accusatory of each other. We are all adults here, so stop it with both name calling and vague insinuations.

And staff is nowhere to be seen, of course.

THINNEST FURSUIT SKIN IN THE FUCKING GAME

[Chumbawumbafan69]

Here's a simple question for Hecht.  There seems to be a pattern of nepenthe entering a thread, things get "heated," and then b-dubs locks the thread because of said, "heat."  What can be done to stop that?

Simple, any bald headed loser who has a problem with it can go to therapy. Problem solved.

[Gameboy Nostalgia]

[BIONIC]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/gamers-flabbergasted-by-wal-mart-us-delivering-their-switch-2%E2%80%99s-with-coke-pringles.1208502/page-6

Thats funny

However

Self quoting from another social network is a bit lame imo

It’s a dad thing to do

Reminds me of that time someone (no names) put something like "happy birthday to me" in a thread title when a Nintendo Direct was announced.

Diversity Analyst annihilated

——

This is disrespectful to the diabetic community. Should’ve been a neutral drink. Also fuck them for canceling my other preorder then adding it back and now it’s late. Cheap chips and shitty soda don’t make up for that.

Nice parody post haha

Just…don’t drink it? Walmart isn’t forcing it down people’s throats. Shit like this is the perfect definition of “No Fun Allowed”.

I mean it would be cool if I could also drink it? Is that too much to ask? Zero sugar Coke is just as good.

Wait, he was for real

[Shecky Fragbaum]

Mission Statement

Since its founding in late 2017, ResetEra has been an inviting bonfire at the crossroads of the gaming industry. Our goal is to provide a modern platform where enthusiasts and industry professionals alike will want to talk about all kinds of video games -- and everything else under the sun. Safeguarded by technology, a vigilant staff, and some of the toughest registration screening of any public forum, ResetEra has been able to cultivate a highly active and passionate community while keeping most trolls and bad actors off of the site.

Today ResetEra is the most popular independent gaming forum on the internet as measured by traffic. It is also an inclusive space that proudly welcomes members of every gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. Respect and decency towards each other, regardless of background, is nonnegotiable. Posters are expected to enter discussions in good faith.

In order to maintain the community that we all cherish, moderators are tasked with upholding this mission statement. The following document aims to provide guidance that can help members be successful posters over the long term. Please note that attempting to use the following text as a shield while violating its spirit (or the mission statement) will not protect you. We include as much detail here as possible, but it is impossible to cover every subject that might require moderation or every exception that might be made.

Not a bad statement really. I just need some clarification on a few points.

[books]

Replace Nep with Noodlesoup. At the very least least, he's an intellectual antisemite; and maybe he actually plays video games which would work for a video games forum.