Journal of Other Forum Analysis (Volume II, Issue 2)

[simiansmarts]

Nightmare scenario: B-Dubs steps down and Queen Nep replaces him as mod 
 

[simiansmarts]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/superman-tracking-for-a-100m-130m-opening-weekend-200m-global.1239336/page-9#post-142595949

Bodhi So just to be clear, you did in fact call it propaganda without seeing the film, which is why you're not answering anyone asking you to explain what propaganda is in the movie?

Holy shit ZeoVagina really wants to be the capeshit police

[Boredfrom]

That is the thing, this counters the criticism against Trump for not knowing what he is doing. Because he is getting wins! Yes, he will always be a malicious idiot but here he is getting wins. And yes, even if the EU was only using it for leverage in the first place, which I don't fully believe, it's still a win because they backed down. He will not stop, this will embolden him, but worse, it will bring him more domestic support and more power. More idiots thinking maybe he's on to something. This is not how you fight fascists.

That is the thing, Daphne: You are an idiot that is believing fake news to justify your world view (“fighting bullies by auto destruction”). Somebody just explained that was leverage and you just said: nah, I don’t believe you.

You are part of the problem.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/politico-victory-for-trump-as-eu-backs-down-on-digital-taxes-in-next-budget.1241808/#post-142573386

[BIONIC]

Nightmare scenario: B-Dubs steps down and Queen Nep replaces him as mod 
 

You mean dream scenario for us

[Jansen]

Them little bitches will cry like crazy in the community thread and blue sky but they'll still post on resetera.

For that reason alone I'm Team Mods

[Lonewulfeus]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/superman-tracking-for-a-100m-130m-opening-weekend-200m-global.1239336/page-9#post-142595949

Bodhi So just to be clear, you did in fact call it propaganda without seeing the film, which is why you're not answering anyone asking you to explain what propaganda is in the movie?

Holy shit ZeoVagina really wants to be the capeshit police 

Now Bodhi just needs to go to an 8am showing with his “girlfriend’s” kid while she gets plowed by her bull and Jeff won’t have a leg to stand on

[SpicyCannoli]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/superman-tracking-for-a-100m-130m-opening-weekend-200m-global.1239336/page-9#post-142595949

Bodhi So just to be clear, you did in fact call it propaganda without seeing the film, which is why you're not answering anyone asking you to explain what propaganda is in the movie?

Holy shit ZeoVagina really wants to be the capeshit police 

What's really fucking funny is that he made a Lilo & Stitch remake thread not too long ago where he avoided everyone asking him if he actually watched the movie 

[BIONIC]

I'd like to focus on the bolded for a moment. So, when users come to this thread to give constructive criticism over how bans were handled in a thread, does that factor into any considerations or is it only tickets that bring about staff review of moderation decisions? I am trying to understand the purpose of this thread because I was under the impression it was precisely for people to suggest ways to improve the site, up to and including handling of moderation actions.

I ask this because the OP of this thread mentions this:


Like, is the ask that the banned person must personally appeal their ban via a ticket to receive a re-review, or can users advocate for others (either in this thread or via the ticket system)? I think that ambiguity has lead to confusion.

If you have a problem with a specific ban, you send in a ticket. We do not allow for this thread to be used for that. Doing so just incentivizes users who get banned to go to the largest discord of which they are a member, complain very loudly about how the big bad mods did wrong by them and to misrepresent what they actually did, and get an angry mob together to harass us. This has happened before and we will not deal with it again.

If you have an issue with a ban, send in a ticket. We are more than happy to have a discussion.

Anyway, I am tired and in no small amount of pain right now so I am going to go relax on my day off.

Read the whole entire OP. Maybe read parts of the thread or old thread. The thread has never been about talking on specific moderator actions, although they haven't necessarily actioned every time it's been done in the past.

The thread is good for talking about general policies and the like. It was constantly discussed that twitter should be banned. That the politics should be separate from general etc.. People talk about wanting likes on posts (despite that being forever a non-starter since it's awful, my take). There is a lot that can be discussed here without fear of being actioned. And I frankly look forward to the thread turning back to normal. So people miss me with the comments that the thread isn't useful, when it literally is useful just not for what THEY specifically want out of it.

Neither of those came from discussions in this thread though (I know, I was there). Those changes happened because users on the main forum threads kept pushing and ended up making entire threads about those issues.

Re: the politics forum, for example, the staff communication in this thread was how it was a terrible idea and they'd never do it because the way they tried it in the past didn't work. The only thing that moved the needle on that was people posting in every politics thread "why isn't this tagged politics?" over and over to the point that something had to be done.

Isn't that scenario just as possible now? If all the complaints are just organized on Discord than those could also just send tickets now about how that ban. Basically a bad faith actor can still mass brigade. Meanwhile someone who is in good faith, with no discord mob at his hands, would be unable to receive any support from the community.

Gonna be real, that isn't true in the slightest. It was actually the discussion in this thread that did it. We had been talking about it prior and were nervous to pull the trigger due to the past, but when it became apparent there was enough support that we wouldn't be called "Worse than W Bush" we went and did it.


Community support isn't going to get you unbanned. If you break the rules and get banned and the community is unhappy, that's tough. We've banned plenty of popular posters who felt they were above the rules, a bunch of them had actually been close friends of mine at one time or another. If you have an actual argument as to why you shouldn't have been banned though, we will listen.

Genuine request: can you just chill with the hyperbole? Everything is "blatantly [x]," "not at all [y]". Makes it really difficult to have a reasonable discussion, and if anything causes this thread to get heated, it's rhetoric phrased in this way.

What am I supposed to say? They're wrong. I'm not trying to be a dick, but what they're saying isn't what happened. I was a part of the discussion the whole time and it was largely the discussion in this thread that got the ball over the line there. Enough users from various communities came in and made it known that it is what they wanted that we were able to do it without fear of the same backlash we had the first time, where we got compared to war criminals.

So much for relaxing on his day off

The posts in this thread have been overwhelmingly polite and in good faith but you keep mischaracterising the responses as some shadowy campaign organised from antagonistic Discords. You keep making things worse for the staff as a whole with this siege mentality and inability to pick your battles wisely.

We don't like each other but at one point as former staff you trusted my judgement. I implore you to read my last two posts in this thread and reflect on them.

[Snoopy]

“I implore you”



What a nerd

[Taco Bell Tower]

If you have a problem with a specific ban, you send in a ticket. We do not allow for this thread to be used for that. Doing so just incentivizes users who get banned to go to the largest discord of which they are a member, complain very loudly about how the big bad mods did wrong by them and to misrepresent what they actually did, and get an angry mob together to harass us. This has happened before and we will not deal with it again.

If you have an issue with a ban, send in a ticket. We are more than happy to have a discussion.

Anyway, I am tired and in no small amount of pain right now so I am going to go relax on my day off.

Day off?  What does he even do?

[Hap Shaughnessy]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/remember-the-first-time-nazis-hated-superman.1242168/#post-142593015https://www.resetera.com/threads/remember-the-first-time-nazis-hated-superman.1242168/#post-142593015

I often wonder what things would be like if we actually had balls and wiped out all Nazi's like we should've. Including the Nazi party in America. No refugees. No sanctuary. No Operation Paperclip. None of the turncoats that made deals. Turned to ash.

I sometimes wonder what America would be like today if the civil war had led to the Union stripping the traitor states from their right to vote instead of embracing reconciliation at the expense of Black folks and other minorities.

[Boredfrom]

We've banned plenty of popular posters who felt they were above the rules, a bunch of them had actually been close friends of mine at one time or another.

He just admitted the thing that everyone suspected, that they used to give leeway to their friends. A lot of those popular posters were acting like pricks for years without any repercussions until they started to get uppity with the staff.

[HaughtyFrank]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/remember-the-first-time-nazis-hated-superman.1242168/#post-142593015https://www.resetera.com/threads/remember-the-first-time-nazis-hated-superman.1242168/#post-142593015

I often wonder what things would be like if we actually had balls and wiped out all Nazi's like we should've. Including the Nazi party in America. No refugees. No sanctuary. No Operation Paperclip. None of the turncoats that made deals. Turned to ash.

I sometimes wonder what America would be like today if the civil war had led to the Union stripping the traitor states from their right to vote instead of embracing reconciliation at the expense of Black folks and other minorities.

As a history buff I can assure you that draconian measures by the victor never resulted in circumstances that eventually lead to the rise of Hitler in the Weimar republic.

But seriously, I understand why people don't always feel great about reconciliation, and it's not like a magic tool to make problems go away, but I also think it's funny how decidedly anti-fascist people are suddenly very interested in the idea of a super authoritarian government, just one that now persecutes the correct people. Reminds me of seeing some guy on twitter who has "Prison abolitionist" in his bio getting excited over the thought to nuremberg trial ICE members. How deeply held are your beliefs if you drop them the moment a real enemy comes along.

[Jansen]

B-dumbs saying the quite part out loud 📢

[Snoopy]

If you have a problem with a specific ban, you send in a ticket. We do not allow for this thread to be used for that. Doing so just incentivizes users who get banned to go to the largest discord of which they are a member, complain very loudly about how the big bad mods did wrong by them and to misrepresent what they actually did, and get an angry mob together to harass us. This has happened before and we will not deal with it again.

If you have an issue with a ban, send in a ticket. We are more than happy to have a discussion.

Anyway, I am tired and in no small amount of pain right now so I am going to go relax on my day off.

Day off?  What does he even do?

Makes scat videos. Builds life size paper mache models of Liam Neeson. Still investigating what "really" happened on 9/11. Still searching Discord looking for Nep. Guy has a busy life

[Uncle]

[STAFF]We are going to unlock the thread, but at this point anyone coming in to fling insults or insinuations or to make up conspiracy theories is getting kicked out of the thread. For the last week people have not only engaged in this sort of behavior but have either condoned or attempted to explain it away. None of that is acceptable and if it continues this thread will be locked for good. This is supposed to be a thread for good faith discussion, not accusations and making up conspiracies.[/STAFF]

dubs could you please indicate the threads at era that are intended for bad faith discussion

[Potato]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/cilvanis-when-your-friend-thinks-dandadan-is-sus.1240905/#post-142536972

User Banned (1 month): Dismissive commentary around depictions of sexual assault over multiple posts; antagonism toward other users; bad faith accusations of engagement farming and puritanism

You shouldn't throw your lot in with engagement farmers on twitter dot com if that's your source of good morals.

When the ban message is longer than the post

[Potato]

[STAFF]We are going to unlock the thread, but at this point anyone coming in to fling insults or insinuations or to make up conspiracy theories is getting kicked out of the thread. For the last week people have not only engaged in this sort of behavior but have either condoned or attempted to explain it away. None of that is acceptable and if it continues this thread will be locked for good. This is supposed to be a thread for good faith discussion, not accusations and making up conspiracies.[/STAFF]

Good faith discussion for the mods is always translated as, "Just felate say nice things about us".

Worst decision every time without fail.

[Potato]

Nightmare scenario: B-Dubs steps down and Queen Nep replaces him as mod 
 

Nightmare? We've been hoping for that for years. 

Imagine the chaos!!!!

[Averon]

Some are calling out the TransEra Discord raids in the community thread:

Majority of dogpiling on this forum are thread brigades from mostly private discords. The forum for a long time now has lost discussion because certain parts of the community use it as a platform as showmanship to "one up" others. The forum has been a battleground for the communities that exist on Discord now fighting each other for quite some time. Certain topics that some groups don't like also get shit up and derailed by the same posters in a very short time regularly.

I'm quoting this again because it is soooo fucking true. You can see the undercurrent in some people's posts. Like someone only chimes in on threads to dogpile some idiot, or a prominent poster shows up out of the blue and (usually) adds nothing to the discussion. When someone brings it up, its usually the same people who declare it "that doesn't happen here", or "ive never seen this". Yeah right. They aren't anywhere as slick as they are trying to be.

[Potato]

If you have an issue with a ban, send in a ticket. We are more than happy to have a discussion.

Again, all the evidence and complaints say otherwise. 

Tickets closed when they clearly haven't been read, "bad faith" takes on issues raised, some tickets taking weeks to resolve.

[Nintex]

We're more than happy to have a discussion

[Hap Shaughnessy]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/bad-sections-of-games-that-you-enjoy.1239759/#post-142490223

 User banned (permanent): Ableism. Prior ban for the same. Account in junior phase.

That was my favorite part as a child. I often stopped playing after that stage.

Also I wasn't a challenged kid and could actually finish that stage easily.

[Hap Shaughnessy]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/my-house-was-built-in-192x-and-it-often-reached-90-back-then-in-the-summer-what-did-people-do-just-sweat.1239552/#post-142483758

 User banned (permanent): Body shaming. Prior bans for body shaming and bigotry.

they werent fat

Hit dog wheezes.

[Hap Shaughnessy]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/whats-behind-the-massive-empathy-gap-were-seeing.1239279/page-4#post-142588161

I know this isn't predominately a Christian board but I hope you will indulge me for just a bit as what we are seeing now was clearly warned about by Jesus.
The Apostle Paul said at 2 Timothy 3:1-3 that near the end of days there would be a dramatic shift on how people behaved.
Not just outliers of extreme behavior but the general populace.

This is how he describes it:
3 But know this, that in the last days+ critical times hard to deal with will be here.
2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, disloyal,
3 having no natural affection, not open to any agreement, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, without love of goodness,

We have certainly always had people that fit this description but its hard to reconcile people behaving like this in such an overwhelming magnitude.
As human beings we are supposed to be empathetic. Its just how we are but as verse 3 says there would no longer be any NATURAL AFFECTION.
It is shocking to see what is happening with Palestine or even in our very own homes and there be no empathy at all. Not willing to even listen to their neighbors or try and see any situation from their own perspective.

Even most Christians during this time would prove to be some of the most heartless of people.
Notice what verse 5 says:

5 having an appearance of godliness but proving false to its power;+ and from these turn away

Think about how hard you are seeing Christians push certain policy's that are clearly against human rights or decency. Jesus warned that they would be not have any support from him.

I don't know if it is any comfort but this has all been prophesied. This was always going to happen. The best you can do is be a Christian in heart regardless of if you believe in Christ or not. Take care of your family and friends and always look for ways to protect your neighbor. With social media and the internet "neighbor" has spread to far greater distances than those next door to us. Combat the apathy around you by being empathetic. Say kind words to all those you meet. Be generous to those that need help.

 

[BIONIC]

Love this hilariously forced narrative.

“Some of the bans were undone after all. All the discussion happening in the CCD thread? That didn’t do anything. No, it was someone who wrote a really amazing ticket who got the job done. One thoughtful ticket did what days of CCD frenzy could not.”

Okay, putting aside your one-sided characterization of the discussion in this thread, you guys have all the agency here when it comes to moderation decisions. It’s quite honestly funny that you decided to rush here and make some kind of lesson of you deciding to listen to a ticket before you even responded to the ticket itself. Somewhat speaks to the fact that perhaps the discussion in this thread may have helped shine a light on why the DK bans were so misguided.

Destroyed by FACTS and LOGIC

I have little interest in this further because the staff framing of "ban brigading" and "conspiracy theories" is extremely worrisome language. This whole discussion started out of a post that was simply asking for clarification. The follow up posts are largely chiming in about how people feel uncomfortable, concern over how the moderation was handled, some clear attempts at humor, some clarification on mod processes (citing older staff posts), and expressing confusion at who did and didn't get banned in the thread. There's a few posts that are heated, and they're talked down by other members of the community to keep it cool. Or just straight up ignored by the people who are trying to be calm and collected.

For my own part, I literally was reading the DK thread on the toilet right before bed, and my initial impression was actually "Oh, staff is actually getting harsher on this? Interesting." It was only after I checked the community discussion thread did I realize the bans did not reflect the banners applied to them. So seeing as the discussion was already happening in here, I made a post saying as such.

This is not "ban brigading." This is not a "conspiracy theory."

This is the barebones basics of moderation. This is the foundation of transparency and accountability that ResetEra was founded upon. It's literally in the General Guide to ResetEra from 2017. It was pointed out multiple times, calmly, by several members, that these bans did not accurately reflect the banners that were put up. Ashes of Dreams even compiled (without names) examples of how the bans and banners didn't reflect what was actually happening in the thread. This doesn't require a ticket, this doesn't require a report, or a DM. The collective conversation was already here and happening anyhow. It's something that can, and should have, been easily resolved on July 2nd.

As of right now, July 12th, the Donkey Kong thread's banners look more accurate to what actually happened. Most bans seem to have been rescinded or downgraded to warnings as appropriate. People who actually read the article (for the most part) have had their infractions removed, leaving only those who legitimately didn't read the article in full with a banner. Small semantic arguments could probably be made at this point over the remaining infractions... but honestly, they're warnings and 1 day bans? They're largely insignificant in the long run of things, and the primary issue there has been corrected.

However, the problem is that we're now being told that one single ticket is now responsible for this? Even though these issues were pointed out days ago? By people who were earnestly just trying to ask for an explanation? And "conspiracy theories" has suddenly been introduced by staff as language on top of "ban brigading"?

There are always going to be the occasional users in public conversations who are going to be heated. There are always going to be the one or two users who are here just to agitate the conversation. Likewise, yes, there are users sitting in Discord who discuss Era too. It's not some big secret or anything. But at the same time, this doesn't account for every single user that comes into this thread with feedback or concern about moderation decisions, and painting the whole thing as conspiracy theories or ban brigading when the vast majority attempted to point out that there WERE legitimate concerns regarding this.

So why even bring it up? I get that it's frustrating, but it wasn't a part of the conversation until staff introduced it.

For that matter, you can literally see the points in this thread where escalations happened due to staff intervention. These are clear escalations, induced entirely by staff, that continued the thread. You can see this when Dubs' initial explanation didn't line up with what people were seeing. You can see this when kayos was banned, and people were utterly confused as to why this ban happened with no explanation. You can see it happen again when kayos was accused of having a pattern of behavior, which a quick search with the search feature proved wrong, and when the explanation of the bans didn't match what was being said in the thread. You can see it when Transistor made his staff post here, the term "ban brigading" was formally introduced, and people were infantilized by being told the thread would be locked so people could cool down. Creating a self-fulfilling prophecy and ensuring the thread would be locked. You can see it here again when kayos was, for some reason, threadbanned for ban litigation. Even though they have no reason to litigate a ban that's already been removed, and weren't doing that anyhow.

Even if staff fundamentally disagrees with the userbase here, none of these escalations need to happen. Deescalation is a core part of any position where you interact publicly like this, and a thread like this can't really exist unless every member of staff is actively working to find a resolution and deescalate, instead of escalating and continuing the situation. If bans were made in error, simply apologize for them. An apology is not a concession; it's simply the first step to deescalating the situation.

Ultimately, I have no good faith explanation as to why this relatively straightforward moderation issue, which staff has handled MANY TIMES BEFORE without problems, wasn't simply resolved back on July 2nd. When it was pointed out that several of the bans didn't reflect the banners. I have no good faith explanation why staff didn't just take the simpler route of updating the OP with another article (Eurogamer was posted) to alleviate confusion. I have no good faith explanation as to why several posts that have calmly and logically explained why the vast majority of the bans were in error were ignored. And I certainly have no good explanation as to why the situation was constantly escalated by staff into getting heated.

So in light of having no good faith explanation, I'm going to simply bow out from ResetEra in general going forward.

See you next week

[Jansen]

Some are calling out the TransEra Discord raids in the community thread:

Majority of dogpiling on this forum are thread brigades from mostly private discords. The forum for a long time now has lost discussion because certain parts of the community use it as a platform as showmanship to "one up" others. The forum has been a battleground for the communities that exist on Discord now fighting each other for quite some time. Certain topics that some groups don't like also get shit up and derailed by the same posters in a very short time regularly.

I'm quoting this again because it is soooo fucking true. You can see the undercurrent in some people's posts. Like someone only chimes in on threads to dogpile some idiot, or a prominent poster shows up out of the blue and (usually) adds nothing to the discussion. When someone brings it up, its usually the same people who declare it "that doesn't happen here", or "ive never seen this". Yeah right. They aren't anywhere as slick as they are trying to be.

Burn TransEra down. Stand up reetards before YOU'RE THE ONES AGAINST THE WALL 

[Jansen]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/bad-sections-of-games-that-you-enjoy.1239759/#post-142490223

 User banned (permanent): Ableism. Prior ban for the same. Account in junior phase.

That was my favorite part as a child. I often stopped playing after that stage.

Also I wasn't a challenged kid and could actually finish that stage easily.

Fuck that user. That level was a fucking nightmare for every poor bastard that got the game as a gift in 1989

[Nintex]

It was easier on the sluggish 25fps PAL version. I often find that is the difference with people finding those stages insanely difficult or manageable.
That version did miss a block at a jump though, so it was impossible to finish without an exploit.

[BIONIC]

This is the caliber of intelligent, thoughtful poster that are being driven off right now. Like, come on.

In reference to android sophia