a few thoughts on the latest admin bashing ... Options

[SirAndy]

i think it's time that i explain a few things (kinda long) ...

- the reason we hired "The Badass Moderator From Hell" as a new Admin had *nothing* to do with Mike Zois, he just showed his boobies at the wrong place at the wrong time.

- we (the admin team) decided to hire the new admin for one reason only:
we needed a "anonymous" admin that was able to handle the more delicate matters of a admins job.
in particular, the recent incidents in the sandbox made it clear to us that we need a admin member that is anonymous as every time one of us tried to intervene we were accused of "abusing our admin powers to force a personal agenda onto other members".

for example, i was accused of "namecalling" (which is against the rules of the sandbox) for telling a member that i thought his "mind was clouded". after my post, the thread declined into a "namecalling fest" against me, then turned to hatred against muslims and then turned really ugly after that.
when i decided to delete the thread, i was accused of pushing my own agenda on people.
i was called all kinds of nice names which i won't repeat here, but it was clear that either, a admin can not have a personal opinion and express that opinion here without running the risk of being called a nazi, left wing asshole, terrorist etc., or, we were going to hire a anonymous admin that can handle out of control threads without having to worry about personal attacks.

- the "The Badass Moderator From Hell" *will* stay anonymous for exactly the above reasons.
he/she has agreed to only deal with "abusive" threads that go against the few rules on this board and otherwise stay in the background and not be active in any other way.

- avatars. a few thoughts about "offending" avatars ...
i know i can turn off avatars, signatures and even images in my preferences.
i also know that only one (1!) member out of over 5000 members keeps on insisting to show naked boobs and such in the name of his freedom of expression.
while it probably doesn't offend all 5000 members, it does offend quite a few.
i don't think it shows much "respect" for fellow club members to FORCE your "freedom of expression" onto them.
you really think 5000 people should abandon their ability to see posted pictures, signatures and avatars just to allow one guy to live out his infantile wet dream?

- guests. like it or not, we have a lot of "guests", people that just stop by to check out the clubsite. they can browse threads and see avatars, signatures and posted pictures. they have *no* way of turning off any of those. i have no idea how many people never became members because they saw offending avatars etc., but i assume there were a few.

- i don't want to turn off avatars. i don't want to turn off signatures. i don't want to browse this site without looking at posted pictures.

- i work on a computer all day. i always have the clubsite open in a browser window. i also work in a office together with female co-workers. every time i scroll through a page with naked boobs, i risk a "sexual harassment lawsuit".
and for what? so one guy can be "cool" ???
others have wife and kids at home. should they have to turn off all the features on this board to make ONE GUY happy ???

- am i the only one who thinks this person shows a complete lack of respect for other club members?

- for those who haven't been here long enough, we have been through this same "discussion" a few times. it seems about once per year.
Mike Zois has been warned through PMs and emails more times than i can count.
sometimes he does comply with an admin request, sometimes he doesn't.
it seems, for him, it's a game. finding out how far he can push people before they get upset.
the new admin did not buy into this game and gave zois a public warning. in my book, that was perfectly OK ...

- the sandbox. the sandbox was created to give you a forum where you can do pretty much anything you want (there are a few rules however).
the sandbox is also *not* visible to guests. anything not PG-13 or not car related was supposed to go into the sandbox. this has worked fairly well so far, but remember, avatars and signatures are not confined to the sandbox.


any questions?
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/cool_shades.gif) Andy