So, before I begin, I just want to say that I appreciate what the staff around here does. Moderating and maintaining a community this size is not an easy feat. This thread is not a knock on you guys in any way. That said, I feel that there is an issue that has gone unaddressed for far too long, and something needs to be done about it.
There has been an issue with how the forum staff has been treating certain members. I have noticed in my lurking that the staff tends to have to tapdance around certain individuals because they feel that they cannot or are not allowed to deal with members who have a history of causing toxic arguments but are in staff positions. It should not matter if someone is a staff member, administrator, moderator, wiki admin, what have you, if someone breaks the rules of the forum, then their behavior needs to be addressed far beyond locking a thread. If a regular member who was not staff were caught breaking the rules, that person would have been given warnings or infractions, if need be.
That is not being fair to the members of the community at all. If someone such as myself were to go into a thread and cause a flame war or toxic argument, then I or whoever caused it should be reprimanded as the situation dictates. Why does having a staff banner or position on the site make someone above the rules? Regardless of position, we're all still members of the community and should be bound by the same set of rules.
This sets a very bad precedence in the community that simply cannot continue, especially with regards to the possible forum merger. That said, let me go ahead and ask of you guys some basic questions:
Have the staff treated members fairly?
Has anyone felt they or someone else has been given preferential or differential treatment that shouldn't have occurred?
Should staff of all types be held accountable for how their actions reflect on the community?
What can be done to prevent instances of staff of all types from becoming involved in these types of situations in the future?
Do we need to re-evaluate our rules and how they are implemented?
I understand that no one is perfect. I understand that we make mistakes, but some mistakes cannot be allowed to continue or repeat in the interest of fairness to the people who take time out of their day to participate in this community.
Thank you for reading.
There has been an issue with how the forum staff has been treating certain members. I have noticed in my lurking that the staff tends to have to tapdance around certain individuals because they feel that they cannot or are not allowed to deal with members who have a history of causing toxic arguments but are in staff positions. It should not matter if someone is a staff member, administrator, moderator, wiki admin, what have you, if someone breaks the rules of the forum, then their behavior needs to be addressed far beyond locking a thread. If a regular member who was not staff were caught breaking the rules, that person would have been given warnings or infractions, if need be.
That is not being fair to the members of the community at all. If someone such as myself were to go into a thread and cause a flame war or toxic argument, then I or whoever caused it should be reprimanded as the situation dictates. Why does having a staff banner or position on the site make someone above the rules? Regardless of position, we're all still members of the community and should be bound by the same set of rules.
This sets a very bad precedence in the community that simply cannot continue, especially with regards to the possible forum merger. That said, let me go ahead and ask of you guys some basic questions:
Have the staff treated members fairly?
Has anyone felt they or someone else has been given preferential or differential treatment that shouldn't have occurred?
Should staff of all types be held accountable for how their actions reflect on the community?
What can be done to prevent instances of staff of all types from becoming involved in these types of situations in the future?
Do we need to re-evaluate our rules and how they are implemented?
I understand that no one is perfect. I understand that we make mistakes, but some mistakes cannot be allowed to continue or repeat in the interest of fairness to the people who take time out of their day to participate in this community.
Thank you for reading.