Mod count [Serious]

[Mr. Best Male 2008]

pick krow

[BANZAI!!!!]

It's sufficient enough; more/less wanted an idea of what he does in the section because I don't go into RP, despite wanting to at a later date.

 

If Zai reads this, he can use this to see what needs to be improved with himself.

Of course I’ve been reading this, and I have a few things to say.

 

Disclaimer before I do though. Usually I refrain from posting stream-of-conciousness responses like this to important topics because often i’m either busy with work or i’m not in the right frame of mind to respond objectively and/or politely. I’m making an exception this time, so sorry in advance. Some of this is going to sound angry, maybe even accusatory. And I might be digging my own grave too, but at this point I’d rather say what I feel I need to say and face the consequences anyway.

 

 

Anyway, where to start. RP, I guess.

 

Imma lay it out plainly, for those people who haven’t realized this yet or just plain don’t go into RP. RP does not need a moderator. All it needs is at least one person on the mod team who is a part of the section so that when mod powers are needed, someone who knows what they’re doing is in charge. The reason I say this is, plainly, that RP knows what they’re doing. The whole section is full of intelligent, kind, welcoming people who foster a spirit of collaboration and genuinely work with one another to help everyone improve. It self-moderates, its GROWING (Trust me, I checked) and I’m even going to go as far as to say that you can take just about any one of the regular hosts in RP and make them a YCM moderator. They’ve all got the skill set and the work ethic for the job (though my personal choices are all either on the team or retired from the team, funny how that kinda makes what I just said hold up, ain’t it).

 

“But then why do we even need you Zai?”

 

I suppose on the face of things you really don’t, but then again section assignments are simply our areas of expertise. Mods are supposed to help the site as a whole, after all.

 

“Zai, you don’t do sheet. Quit pretending that you’re any help to the site at large and go crawl back into your RP hole.”

 

The above is probably a bit harsher than the majority of you would phrase it, but I think I’ve got the gist of most people’s opinions. On a related note: for the record, if anyone’s still hung up on HOW I became a moderator, frankly, you can get over it. If the decision that was made almost a year ago, which I personally took no part in other than volunteering to be a moderator, is still coloring your opinion of me (and I mean me specifically), then you need to take a step back and realize that you’re being irrational. The election should no longer (or really have ever, if I’m being honest) have any bearing on your assesment of me as a staff member. I’ll even go out on a limb and refute the claims that I know are coming in response to this that that was never the case, and that I’ve somehow deluded myself into thinking that the community hasn’t been totally objective for the past 10 months. Look guys, gals, and those who identify somewhere in between, We’re all human and this is YCM, a community known for its irrationality. You’re not fooling anyone except maybe yourselves.

 

Ok back on topic. Matt as a mod. Oh yeah, spoilers, my name’s Matt. Figured I should use my real name to underscore how blunt/honest i’m trying to be, and for the record you can all call me that if Zai doesn’t tickle your fancy. Anyway...

 

I’ll give you the tl;dr first. Its only two sentences after all.

 

1. funk you, I do help the site.

 

2. I don’t do as much as I could be doing, and what I do often isn’t visible, or sometimes even tangible.

 

And I can already sense the incredulity. Don’t worry, I’ll explain.

 

Lets start with some of the things that you guys may or may not be aware of about me. Neither of these are meant as excuses, simply facts of my life that will help explain why I do (or don’t do) what I do and how I do it. The first one’s the simple one. Four days a week I work a hazardous, physically demanding job at a chemical plant. Management there is poor and so often i’m physically and emotionally drained, which means im not going to be doing much on YCM. This is part of why my rps seem to have trouble too, but that’s neither here nor there. Second up is that like a lot of us here I suffer from depression, and there plain and simply some days where I either can’t motivate myself to be here or it is unhealthy for me to be on YCM. Both of those hurt my activity (though for the record I should also say that I’m often checking in on the site at work).

 

There’s also the fact that a lot of what I do has nothing to do with actually producing site content. As I said above, RP is very low maintenence, and 9/10 times I’m assisting the team with developing ideas in the mod forum or answering PMs from users. I’m not silent, and I certainly don’t neglect to pay attention to what’s going on on YCM, despite what you may think. Simply put i’m just not the most visibly active member of the team. I have no one to discipline and really no big changes to make to my section.

 

Which brings me to my next point, and spoilers this probably where you’ll see most of my vitriol, because this is much more important to me than actually keeping my job as a moderator. Its also not entirely about me.

 

YCM, you treat your staff like sheet.

 

You really do, whether its because you dislike some of us or we take actions you don’t agree with, or even maybe because you’re bored and antagonizing us when we make decisions is entertaining. In my ten months on the team, in almost every case, any important announcement of ours is met with vitriol. We’re chastized at every opportunity, to the point that it seems less about improving the site and more about different members trying to control what we do or say. Sometimes its backhanded, other times its downright malicious, and I think its safe for me to say that I speak for all of the staff when I say that how you (yes, you, the members, not the staff) conduct yourselves with us creates an unhealthy, stressful, or even hostile work environment. And before you dismiss this as whining, remember that all of us are unpaid volunteers, who are only here out of a genuine desire to help YCM function. I want to make something perfectly clear about YCM’s staff as I have seen them firsthand: We’re not power-hungry, we’re not abusive (especially lately), we’re not malicious or spiteful, or even misguided, and it appears from my end that a lot of you think otherwise, and act accordingly. Straight up: stop it. You interfere with our ability to remain objective and efficiently do our jobs, all for the sake of “holding us accountable”. Accountable to what? We’re not here to lord power over YCM. We’re to keep it clean and friendly, and 100% of the time that’s what we set out to do.

 

If you ask me, this is symptomatic of problems that YCM’s community has always had, even waaaay back 9 years ago when I first became a member. All too often we resort to hostility and fingerpointing when we’re dissasitsfied, when in reality what’s actually going to help the community is trust and communication. Speaking of reality, here’s another fact that people seem to conveniently forget when dealing with the staff, and its so true that i’ll even go as far as saying its axiomatic. A member will never be completely satisfied with the site staff unless they themselves are part of it. We can’t make you happy, and its not really even our job to bow to your wishes. Staff are supposed to work toward the good of the site, not check and make sure what they do is ok with a vocal minority of members, who all on at least a very small level are doing what they do in order to exact some measure of control over the site.

 

Apologies if that turned into a rambling mess. Here’s basically what I want you to take from the above:

 

Leave the staff the funk alone and trust them to do their jobs. The crew we have right now are good people with good intentions, and the only thing all this posturing and faux politicking does is stir up feelings of anger and contempt on all sides. We don’t need oversight, because we are the oversight, and the people that came before us thought we were qualified to be that oversight.

 

Anyways, what does this mean in relation to me?

 

Well i’m not resigning, for one thing. This is a platform I can use to help people whom I consider friends, colleagues, and associates, and I have no intention of doing otherwise. I’m also going to take the opportunity to say (for the umpteenth funking time by the way) that my PM inbox, my skype, and my discord are always open. If you haven’t noticed by now, I love to talk, so nut up and come talk to me directly about whatever issues you have with me or the site or anything else. I can be rough and sarcastic, but ask anyone who considers me a friend around here, i’m a nice guy and I don’t mean any harm. I’m totally willing to level with people if they’re willing to come to me and do the same.

 

The caveat to the above, however, is this: to those who think I shouldn’t be here, i have only one thing to ask of you. Quit dancing around it and mumbling amongst yourselves and bring those concerns directly to the rest of the team. If only to prove with certainty that my coworkers do a way better job than almost any of you give them credit for. They’ll take a long, hard look at me and come to a resonable decision regarding my qualifications. And if the end result is me stepping down, so be it. I’ve got a list of cool people from RP whom i’m sure would do a good job.

 

EDIT: entirely unrelated to the above, but if birdie wants back on the team i’m all for it.

[Ryusei the Morning Star]

"Leave the staff the funk alone and trust them to do their jobs"

 

We have, and they haven't. You literally personified Black's 2 line sinker

 

"attempts at PR usually ended in telling people to shut up/they were being shitty/etc"

[BANZAI!!!!]

"Leave the staff the funk alone and trust them to do their jobs"

We have, and they haven't. You literally personified Black's 2 line sinker

"attempts at PR usually ended in telling people to shut up/they were being shitty/etc"

If that’s all you took away from it than you’ve clearly either missed my point or just skimmed the post.

 

The above isn’t public relations in any capacity. Its me expressing myself as a YCM user and a staff member.

[Dad]

There's a distinct difference between being harassed and not answering questions or assisting with site related inquiries.

[Ryusei the Morning Star]

When an unpaid intern dislikes a work environment, they tend to quit zai

[BANZAI!!!!]

There's a distinct difference between being harassed and not answering questions or assisting with site related inquiries.

I don’t know if this was adressed toward me or not, but i’m pretty sure all of us on staff do that to the best of our ability. I can’t think of anyone actively neglecting to weigh in.

[Dad]

I don’t know if this was adressed toward me or not, but i’m pretty sure all of us on staff do that to the best of our ability. I can’t think of anyone actively neglecting to weigh in.

It was directed at Winter.

 

Let's be honest, I'm not always behind Zai. I'm discovering now that the reason i left SF behind (school) wouldn't have made a difference because it never got off the ground. I'm hurt. Deadass, I'm hurt and angry.

 

But I'm with Zai on this one. Because he's vocal in mod forum. He's always aiding with changes from possible new events, assisting with warnings, spam, and other nuisances, and speaking on the board in general. I don't give a sheet if you think Zai is just sitting on his ass. You're wrong.

 

It's not even a joke anymore. It's a petty, personal vendetta you niggas formed and I see why he got angry. The election was one thing, and I of course had a hand in that funk up. But Zai has put in the work since he's been there. Short of revealing the mod forum, y'all just looking for something to jabroni about.

 

PR be damned (from Zai since I want Birdie back ( and yeah Imma keep bringing her name up)) Zai does support this forum.

 

I'm not gon forgive him for breaking my heart with SF and a few other rps, but that's in the wind. If tangible results were they only thing keeping mods where they are, only Sakura and Flame would remain.

[Blake]

I’m leaving this to others, because this is absolutely not my battle/I have voiced concerns with Zai’s performance to the supers in the past (never asking for his head, always wanting him to shape up), by you can’t say Roxas or I are holding a vendetta. We don’t agree on pretty much anything, but we have a similar response here, both had hoped Zai would perform, and both had a hand in bringing him on board to the team.

 

I can’t speak for others, but don’t reduce all concerns to mere vendetta.

 

Roxas, feel free to correct me if you have some nefarious secret agenda to axe Zai that the forum is unaware of.

[Ryusei the Morning Star]

It was directed at Winter.

Let's be honest, I'm not always behind Zai. I'm discovering now that the reason i left SF behind (school) wouldn't have made a difference because it never got off the ground. I'm hurt. Deadass, I'm hurt and angry.

But I'm with Zai on this one. Because he's vocal in mod forum. He's always aiding with changes from possible new events, assisting with warnings, spam, and other nuisances, and speaking on the board in general. I don't give a sheet if you think Zai is just sitting on his ass. You're wrong.

It's not even a joke anymore. It's a petty, personal vendetta you niggas formed and I see why he got angry. The election was one thing, and I of course had a hand in that funk up. But Zai has put in the work since he's been there. Short of revealing the mod forum, y'all just looking for something to jabroni about.

PR be damned (from Zai since I want Birdie back ( and yeah Imma keep bringing her name up)) Zai does support this forum.

I'm not gon forgive him for breaking my heart with SF and a few other rps, but that's in the wind. If tangible results were they only thing keeping mods where they are, only Sakura and Flame would remain.

Pretty sure you would remain for your reforms too

 

Zai got in a BS way

 

Got promoted to regular mod after blowing off the trial period

 

His main achievement after that was joining the lynch mob to get me banned

 

Now, RP people says he's not active / a mod isn't needed

 

PR mod is gone and Zai did donkey ass at that job

 

This isn't musical chairs. He was anointed as PR mod. He failed. If I go into work tommorow, refuse to do what I was hired for, they'll sack me regardless of how good I am at some other job they didn't hire me for.

 

Lotta people have sheet to do in life. Some like Birdie step down, others just stagnate as mod. Honestly a question of if Zai wants to be Rai like or Birdie like

[Dad]

I’m leaving this to others, because this is absolutely not my battle/I have voiced concerns with Zai’s performance to the supers in the past (never asking for his head, always wanting him to shape up), by you can’t say Roxas or I are holding a vendetta. We don’t agree on pretty much anything, but we have a similar response here, both had hoped Zai would perform, and both had a hand in bringing him on board to the team.

 

I can’t speak for others, but don’t reduce all concerns to mere vendetta.

 

Roxas, feel free to correct me if you have some nefarious secret agenda to axe Zai that the forum is unaware of.

That's fair. A large portion of these complaints (not all) are vindictive. Some of them are legit.

[Ryusei the Morning Star]

Vindictiveness is such a lazy excuse. If I was vindictive I'd go after the 60 odd percent of users who supported my extra judicial ban and hate evilfusion for doing so. I don't cause this is about accountability not vindication

[BANZAI!!!!]

I’m leaving this to others, because this is absolutely not my battle/I have voiced concerns with Zai’s performance to the supers in the past (never asking for his head, always wanting him to shape up), by you can’t say Roxas or I are holding a vendetta. We don’t agree on pretty much anything, but we have a similar response here, both had hoped Zai would perform, and both had a hand in bringing him on board to the team.

 

I can’t speak for others, but don’t reduce all concerns to mere vendetta.

 

Roxas, feel free to correct me if you have some nefarious secret agenda to axe Zai that the forum is unaware of.

If there weren’t some problems with me I wouldn’t have adressed them as such. I’m certainly far from perfect. Honestly though this isn’t just about me, and I want to make that clear. I feel that there’s a serious problem with how members interact with us, which is kind of what spurred my rant. If there’s a legitimate enough reason to demote me, go for it, but I’m here to adress issues that don’t specifically pertain to me. I already see it happening to Broken, for instance.

[Ryusei the Morning Star]

If there weren’t some problems with me I wouldn’t have adressed them as such. I’m certainly far from perfect. Honestly though this isn’t just about me, and I want to make that clear. I feel that there’s a serious problem with how members interact with us, which is kind of what spurred my rant. If there’s a legitimate enough reason to demote me, go for it, but I’m here to adress issues that don’t specifically pertain to me. I already see it happening to Broken, for instance.

Broke. N is different. Not learning their lesson from your case, they just chose someone out of the wazoo

 

There's a pretty clear compromise they have that doesn't involve sacking Broke (and that's a second TCG mod as has always been the case)

It was directed at Winter.

 

Let's be honest, I'm not always behind Zai. I'm discovering now that the reason i left SF behind (school) wouldn't have made a difference because it never got off the ground. I'm hurt. Deadass, I'm hurt and angry.

 

But I'm with Zai on this one. Because he's vocal in mod forum. He's always aiding with changes from possible new events, assisting with warnings, spam, and other nuisances, and speaking on the board in general. I don't give a sheet if you think Zai is just sitting on his ass. You're wrong.

 

It's not even a joke anymore. It's a petty, personal vendetta you niggas formed and I see why he got angry. The election was one thing, and I of course had a hand in that funk up. But Zai has put in the work since he's been there. Short of revealing the mod forum, y'all just looking for something to jabroni about.

 

PR be damned (from Zai since I want Birdie back ( and yeah Imma keep bringing her name up)) Zai does support this forum.

 

I'm not gon forgive him for breaking my heart with SF and a few other rps, but that's in the wind. If tangible results were they only thing keeping mods where they are, only Sakura and Flame would remain.

I want you to look me in the eye and tell me Night was talking about being "vocal in the mod forum"

 

​https://forum.yugiohcardmaker.net/topic/362252-the-submission-box-moderator-transparency-discussion-thread/page-2?do=findComment&comment=6993307

 

 

Let's be honest at least now, you're not getting demodded. You were selected by the mod team. They has "high hopes for you" - ie, you're not going anywhere.

 

Let's dispel with that notion. They've kept less controversial and inactive mods than you on.

 

Now that's done, if you think your method works, then do something I guess. I haven't seen your new method yet.

 

The problem WAS how you were selected, the problem now IS what you've done (or rather not done) for your trial period. Your explanation defending Evil for promoting you doesn't answer the criticism. At least not regarding my point.

 

I'm curious why you were promoted to mod after not doing anything in your trial period. Giga's problems (if they remain) are separate. The problem in the future WILL be if you continue as you have in the last month.

 

Yes you were busy, so was Birdie. She stepped down. You did not. She did stuff actively while she was around. I'm still waiting to see what people claim you did during the same period.

 

Dismissing everything negative about as a witch hunt will only make that more likely to pass. Them blinders helps no-one

 

You were given a chance in your trial period, and you're being given a second chance now it seems. Please don't squander it. I'm asking more than ordering; even if you do squander it, nothing is gonna happen to you or your position. YCM just won't improve. 

 

 

 

If he doesn't do sheet and/or doesn't do it well I'll personally demote him. 

Now you can stop worrying that nothing will happen because I'm far too prideful to go back on my word. 

[Dad]

You want a PR mod who's visible outside the mod forum. That's what you say. What you mean is, "I want anyone except Zai".

 

You keep saying Zai ain't did sheet but when I provide you with examples suddenly "that's not what we meant".

 

So either he is supporting the forum or he's not supporting it the way you want him to. I could drop a dozen of his quotes from the mod forum with no context about just recent events.

 

I can't force RP to suddenly need help or pull out Zai's pms with members (that PR thing you're going on about).

 

I can grab his posts from the transparency thread too if you'd like. Whatchu want b?

[BANZAI!!!!]

Broke. N is different. Not learning their lesson from your case, they just chose someone out of the wazoo

 

There's a pretty clear compromise they have that doesn't involve sacking Broke (and that's a second TCG mod as has always been the case)

 

I want you to look me in the eye and tell me Night was talking about being "vocal in the mod forum"

 

​https://forum.yugiohcardmaker.net/topic/362252-the-submission-box-moderator-transparency-discussion-thread/page-2?do=findComment&comment=6993307

 

Again, you’re missing the point. Night could demote me this second and I’d still be participating in this conversation, because this isn’t just about me. This is about the community and and how it interacts with its staff. I’m just a prominent example.This is about how you view us and how you treat us.

[Simping For Hina]

I, as much as I advocate for Zai to be demoted, do not mean so. He is aware of it being a joke. Zai is a good mod, doing the same work load as everyone else.

 

YCM is also fine, we don't need revolution to change this.

[Ryusei the Morning Star]

You want a PR mod who's visible outside the mod forum. That's what you say. What you mean is, "I want anyone except Zai".

 

You keep saying Zai ain't did sheet but when I provide you with examples suddenly "that's not what we meant".

 

So either he is supporting the forum or he's not supporting it the way you want him to. I could drop a dozen of his quotes from the mod forum with no context about just recent events.

 

I can't force RP to suddenly need help or pull out Zai's pms with members (that PR thing you're going on about).

 

I can grab his posts from the transparency thread too if you'd like. Whatchu want b?

Night was talking about the role that Zai somehow got into at the time, which was PR mod. He said he would personally demote him if he didn't do it well. 

 

So I'm asking you, don't tell me what Zai has done for an unrelated job he wasn't hired for, tell me what he's done on PR front, cause while I do see him being defended, not seeing a ton of that defense towards his job as PR mod.

 

Yeh, IK he made a few posts in the transparency thread, including a few to tell people to stop unfairly persecuting him. 

 

People don't take these threats (like the one Night posted) seriously, cause it's just for us rubes. We knew, despite hopes otherwise, the mods would end up squirreling their pick through. We knew that the "trail period" was an even bigger joke than the mod selection. And we knew that demotion was never on the table.

 

Let's be honest at least now, you're not getting demodded. You were selected by the mod team. They has "high hopes for you" - ie, you're not going anywhere.

 

Let's dispel with that notion. They've kept less controversial and inactive mods than you on.

 

Now that's done, if you think your method works, then do something I guess. I haven't seen your new method yet.

 

The problem WAS how you were selected, the problem now IS what you've done (or rather not done) for your trial period. Your explanation defending Evil for promoting you doesn't answer the criticism. At least not regarding my point.

 

I'm curious why you were promoted to mod after not doing anything in your trial period. Giga's problems (if they remain) are separate. The problem in the future WILL be if you continue as you have in the last month.

 

Yes you were busy, so was Birdie. She stepped down. You did not. She did stuff actively while she was around. I'm still waiting to see what people claim you did during the same period.

 

Dismissing everything negative about as a witch hunt will only make that more likely to pass. Them blinders helps no-one

 

You were given a chance in your trial period, and you're being given a second chance now it seems. Please don't squander it. I'm asking more than ordering; even if you do squander it, nothing is gonna happen to you or your position. YCM just won't improve. 

^^^

 

Was true 8 months ago, was true now

Again, you’re missing the point. Night could demote me this second and I’d still be participating in this conversation, because this isn’t just about me. This is about the community and and how it interacts with its staff. I’m just a prominent example.This is about how you view us and how you treat us.

This community cherished Birdie for as long as she was with us, and was heartbroken over Yui stepping down. Evilfusion is still regarded as a god, and near everyone likes Dad

 

You should question why you and certain others don't fit on that boat

 

ie

 

X=/=Y

 

f(x)=/=f(y)

 

How you are treated depends on how you act

 

---

 

Yes, because you are a symptom of a problem, not the cause. Would honestly be fine with letting you stay, but there's a feedback loop where you insist that everything against you should be water under the dam...which shows (1) you don't understand the cause (2) you embolden it

[Kazooie]

you make it sound like i died, winter. 

[Dad]

Bruh. In a business, if you puttin up numbers on one front better than the other, I'm moving you not firing you.

you make it sound like i died, winter. 

Well you killed a few people's hopes on the way out. Same thing. So when you coming back?

[BANZAI!!!!]

Bruh. In a business, if you puttin up numbers on one front better than the other, I'm moving you not firing you.

 

Well you killed a few people's hopes on the way out. Same thing. So when you coming back?

This. Door’s basically open for you. Us Birbs should stick together.

[BANZAI!!!!]

Night was talking about the role that Zai somehow got into at the time, which was PR mod. He said he would personally demote him if he didn't do it well. 

 

So I'm asking you, don't tell me what Zai has done for an unrelated job he wasn't hired for, tell me what he's done on PR front, cause while I do see him being defended, not seeing a ton of that defense towards his job as PR mod.

 

Yeh, IK he made a few posts in the transparency thread, including a few to tell people to stop unfairly persecuting him. 

 

People don't take these threats (like the one Night posted) seriously, cause it's just for us rubes. We knew, despite hopes otherwise, the mods would end up squirreling their pick through. We knew that the "trail period" was an even bigger joke than the mod selection. And we knew that demotion was never on the table.

 

^^^

 

Was true 8 months ago, was true now

 

This community cherished Birdie for as long as she was with us, and was heartbroken over Yui stepping down. Evilfusion is still regarded as a god, and near everyone likes Dad

 

You should question why you and certain others don't fit on that boat

 

ie

 

X=/=Y

 

f(x)=/=f(y)

 

How you are treated depends on how you act

 

---

 

Yes, because you are a symptom of a problem, not the cause. Would honestly be fine with letting you stay, but there's a feedback loop where you insist that everything against you should be water under the dam...which shows (1) you don't understand the cause (2) you embolden it

Apologies for the double post.

 

Winter, i’m gonna be blunt. You don’t get it. At all. Worse, you’re part of the problem.

 

YCM doesn’t need reform. It needs trust, communication, and civility. Getting rid of me will change nothing. Feel free to try and get me demoted, its not like there isn’t a case for it, but there will be another staff member on the radar in short order.

 

YCM needs to trust us and treat us well, not attempt to control us and scrutinize our every move.

[Mr. Best Male 2008]

I'll vote for Zai if he unbans Draco Strayburn.

[Ryusei the Morning Star]

Bruh. In a business, if you puttin up numbers on one front better than the other, I'm moving you not firing you.

 

Well you killed a few people's hopes on the way out. Same thing. So when you coming back?

Uh, no, If you're good at making sandwiches when you were hired to weld hinges, you're getting fired

[Dad]

I'll vote for Zai if he unbans Draco Strayburn.

I'll vote for Zai if he unbans Draco Strayburn.

He's not banned anymore.

Uh, no, If you're good at making sandwiches when you were hired to weld hinges, you're getting fired

Promoters.