Close Topic Options

[Nomake Wan]

I guess this is a Freedom of Information Act request... if the forum even has such a thing. I seem to recall back in April that Tessou called for transparency in staff decisions, so that the members can actually see what the staff are doing and understand why decisions are made. I totally support that, insofar as it actually happens. So here we go.

What two reports were received on the Racy Anime Girls thread? I couldn't help but run a little math and ponder it myself. It was noted that two reports were received in the same day, and that based on those two reports it was decided to close the thread. All right, I can understand that. A thread being reported twice in one day seems pretty dangerous.

Except...that if one looks over in Recirculation one finds that MattW spammed the thread twice in one day. His posts had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the content or discussion within the thread and, as is proper, were removed to their own little trash dumpster in Recirculation. Again, totally agreeing with that decision. It was exactly the right thing to do.

Where I have an issue--and why I'm putting out this request for information--is if the two reports that closed the thread were reporting these two spam posts that had nothing whatsoever to do with the thread. If that is so, it would certainly appear that the staff used MattW's spam as a scapegoat to close the thread. The discussion was ongoing. Why close it because someone else shat all over the thread?

Now, personally, I am pretty much finished with my part in that thread. I've already told people where to look for information and have repeated more than I should have where the point stands. So as far as I am concerned personally, the thread is complete. However, there are other people who wished to continue it. And while I had no reason to post in the thread any further, it would disappoint me greatly if one moron was able to sever the debate with worthless spam.

This post has been edited by Nomake Wan on Aug 28 2012, 03:48 PM

[Tessou]

I was asked via chat both this morning and in the early afternoon, by members that would like to remain anonymous, to review whether or not such a volatile topic was stepping out of line considering the unwritten rule of discussing taboo topics.

On top of that, I've been very unhappy with how the team "handled" the situation. Yes, there was a hint of actual debate brewing, but the OP had already stated that they were essentially finished and regretful of the thread entirely, meaning the last bits (asking for a response) would be unanswered.

If it really bugs you to death that it's closed, bother Perry about it. He saw nothing on the assertion that the topic was out of line, so I'm quite obviously in disagreement with him on that point.

Transparent as glass here.

[Perry]

I was quite finished with the topic by Page 3. I've said all I had to say. I think what ticked people off so much was the huge imbalance on both side of the argument if you can even call those argument at all, no offense. It was pretty much one-sided from Page 1. There were a few requests directing at NeedaHEMI to answer some questions but he continued to "ignore" it. Now, let me make this clear. Unless it's a direct request from the Moderating Team, users are not obligated to answer any questions in a discussion. Moderating Team also may not use their status to request for answer that doesn't help to do their job -- moderate.

So what are the things to take home? Always discuss the topic with a civil manner, which I think all of us were capable of; When getting your ideas across in text form, present yourself as concise as possible, if it's still a loss cause, exit. It is simply not worth it. Try asking an atheist to believe in God or a Christian to believe there is no God and you'll likely have a similar debate, an ugly one.

[Nomake Wan]

That's all I needed to know. If the two anonymous reports had nothing to do with MattW's posts and were in fact related to the topic itself, I am content.

Thanks, team!

[Tessou]

The reports were about MattW's posts, and they were dealt with via splitting and moving to recirc. The decision to close the thread was made after being contacted outside of IDW, reviewing the thread, and predicting how it would end up.

As Perry said, it would be ugly.