This Place Is So Corrupted

Just as a recap;

Lyn/Maëlle/Tasta: You guys shouldn't feel intimidated by us. I know I certainly don't try to be that way and the others don't as well. Maybe it's how we handle teenies or discuss things somewhat heated in the discussion forums, but those are just debates. We have never banned someone, form my recollection, for having an opinion or expressing their views. And we don't plan to in the future either. So there's no need to be scared. I may disagree with how bongmaster and slipknot_fan feel about homosexuals, for example, but I'm not going to ban them for it.

Everyone here knows that if they have any problems with the way things are done or suggestions on how to be better, my inbox is always free and the feedback forums are there as well. You will not be chastized for your suggestions/comments, so please, express yourselves calmly and we'll gladly listen.

 

Thank you Mark.

I'd still like an answer from Derek about why he brought up the off-forum stuff, but I guess I'm pretty much done with this thread.



...now let's just hope we don't have the same thing next month, too [/b][/quote]
You know, I've taken so much heat for bringing that up, that I'm just going to go on the record and admit I was wrong about it. I meant it as a display of Casey's character, but it got taken out of context and I apologize for it. For now on when handling matters like this, the members' personal lives will be kept out of the picture. Plain and simple.

I must say however, that everytime we ban someone who had some popularity (even though they broke the rules 3 times like any other banned person), a thread like this seems to pop up in the forums. We always are open to member opinions, and constantly keep an empty PM box for that reason alone, but I don't see why we have to be corrupted everytime we try to do our jobs. We respect your opinions, but people are going to be banned if they dont follow the rules. Casey received plenty of chances, and action had to be pursued. We couldn't give him all the chances in the world, and why some dont understand the 3 strikes you're gone policy, is beyond me. Casey had more than three strikes, but we we're 'nice' and didn't do anything about it. We tried to see if he'd straighten out a little, it's clear now that he didn't.

I'll go on the record once more and say we've been guilty of decisions, where later on we thought we could've handled them better. Such is evidenced by the beginning of this post, where I apologized for bringing up the fact that Casey was a admitted racist. We cannot apologize for everytime we ban someone; however, because it's the way a forum is supposed to be run. We are one of the few LP fan forums with a three strike policy, as forgive me if I'm wrong I believe the LPMB only has two. Three chances are plenty for someone to get their act together, and if they cant do it in that time, then it's probable that they won't be able to ever get themselves together.

We've had members on these forums who've never received a warning, who follow the rules religiously, and who are still outstanding contributors to this community. Casey, while still a great contributor, had a lot of situations where he seemed to only be trying to get people angry. Sure he's changed a lot over the past few months, but any veterans who were here since he joined, will remember that he wasn't always the guy he was today and almost got banned immediately after he joined.

But there I go bringing up personal matters and/or the past again, so I'm going to end the post here. Just know that we always are open to opinions when they are presented in a calm and polite matter. Having threads that insult the website; however, no matter how much we might deserve it, is something I'm not fond of. I'm more likely to listen to you if you give me respect and approach me polite and professionally, than if you call my website corrupted and pick apart my staff.

I love for everyone to be happy, and I love to listen, but sometimes comments can go just a little too far when people try to get their point across.

 

I know you're trying to run this place all right Mark, but haven't there been many suggestions and complaints already? This is not the first time it happens [/b][/quote]
Yeah, but do me a favor Duck and see how the vast majority of these "complaints" have been brought up. Even in a thread where I admitted our problems, writing one of the most well worded letters I've ever written, we were torn apart and spit on despite our best efforts to keep the peace. Not only was I mocked for my professionalism, the first few pages made little attempt to remedy the problem, but instead added fuel to the fire.

Breaking down for a second and stepping out from behind the professional barrier I've sat behind for so long, I'm going to offer the following response:

We are humans, who are for the most part (with possibly one exception) under the age of 20. We are 'kids' just like the rest of you, and have our own personal problems as well as high school and college to attend to. To be expected to run a site perfectly when none of us are even full grown adults yet, is a lot to ask. We are intended to be a website where people just respect eachother, no matter what their beliefs, and just have fun while doing it in a non-offensive matter. Sadly, despite our best efforts, it seems like our wish is never quite acheived as we always have to be on alert for people who live to cause anxiety among the staff and its beloved members.

It is in our best interests to be a little strict, because everyone already knows it only takes one bad apple to ruin the enjoyment of the forums for everybody else.

I honestly, and this is in no way meant to sound unprofessional, would appreciate it if we would be cut some slack every once and while. We operate this site absolutely free of charge, with no ads (despite people telling me im an idiot for not generating an income from LPA) and all the while we still manage to update the site frequentely, and run a forum that's enjoyable for those who know how to follow the rules and be respectful like many of our members here.

You are not paying a dime to access this site, and we're not even begging you for a penny, so the least you can do is not chastise us everytime we make a mistake in judgement. I understand that we arent perfect, and I totally respect the need to give comments (ones in which I listen to everytime) but I do grow tired when we can't even ban a member, without feeling like the members have to hold our hands.

I apologize if that last part sounded harsh, but we are moderators, with stressful jobs, and we're going have to ban people here and there because its part of the job description. Despite the people who make our jobs stressful, we still enjoy moderating here day in and day out.

The problem remains in the fact that the forums are starting to become way too negative. I will take some of the responsiblity for that, but I will be completely honest and say that part of the responsibility lies on our members as well.

People need to stop taking things personally, when they are not intended to be that way in the first place. I understand we need to tone it down a little (and we'll try) but we're going to need an equal effort from the members to be less negative.

Normally I wouldn't dare say that, but I'm starting to see our members taking things totally the wrong way and out of context, and it's about time I plead for everyone to relax before this site becomes a hellhole.

LPA is my proudest acheivement, so lets not make it my most regretted one please. We all just need to talk out our problems, and chill. We're all too stressful right now.

 

If I said "When I find out where you live, I'm going to kick your ass ", that would not be perceived as a threat. It's playful joking, that's all. Threats are only to be taken serious when they are just that; serious threats. That's my view on it.

I think this thread has ran it's course. Everything has calmed and we've resolved everything to my knowledge. If not, PM me.