Taking some time off soon...

[griffin]

I don't want to go into details at this time, but basically, certain internal matters are making this feel like too much of a chore to want to log in anymore. As soon as I the matter with jaydisc is sorted out (yes boys and girls, that 'hypothetical' conspiracy topic he suckered some of you into, is about this board - just replace manager with moderator, and owner with admin), I will be taking a break from here. I don't know how long, but it is something I need to do soon, before the fun is totally spoilt.

Also, the strain has taken its toll on the moderators as well. Paulbot and dirge have both been taken off the board staff, because their fun is being ruined as well (they volunteer their time here, and don't deserve to have it impact their lives and interest in TFs).

Please play nicely while we are light staffed.

These recent issues has also meant that the website overhaul and the Club Membership thing (and a number of other things) have had to be put off until it is resolved.

[Kyle]

Guys, I like all of you Griffin, Jaydisc, Dirge and Paulbot and hope all of us can put aside what differences we might have and work things out.

I hate to see ANY of us leave this friendly and fun place. :(

[Gutsman Heavy]

:(

I'll be good

[lcz128]

damn....
I seem to be on the boards at the wrong times of day or something cause there seems to always be something going on in the background that I hear hardly any wind of - and then BOOM people are leaving or something :(

Makes me sad :( Thanks griff -hope to see you back soon :)

[Robzy]

Well... THIS REALLY SUX!!! :(

[Vector Sigma 13]

Something hasnt seemed right on here lately...

Is there any way that we can avoid topics that can de-rail our prime objective, that is Transformers. Perhaps a tougher stance on these posts is required? Seems like Transformers has taken the back seat in recent times.

I think we have very exciting times ahead with the new movie on the way (Im getting more excited by the day) and it would be a shame to have this sidelined by other issues.

Im dissapointed and feel it unfortunate that members of the board staff have had to make this decision but i understand why. I think the board admin and staff do a great job of running this show- its a great place to be, the members are great and everyone gets a fair go.

Not sure what else to say but i hope all smooths out and we can get back to what we do best- being an awesome community of Transformers fans and collectors.

[Lint]

Enjoy your time off griff, i'm confident this place will be largely intact when you return so rest assured.

[orionpax1]

I'm sorry to that there have been problems (i to have not heard anything about it, but i do have a sense that something is afoot) on this board.

I know that it would be hard to run and control this board(or any other type) between work and other life related jobs, maybe some morre strict measures have to be in place, i know it sounds harsh but if it is ruining the fun for everyone else then maybe it has to be done.

We are all equal here and this board is a service ( a service that has a lot of work put in to it) for everyone to use and so it should be treated as a privilege for us to use and if people can not play nice then maybe you shouldn't be here.

[Sam]

Enjoy your well deserved break Griffin. It's no fun to let what is supposed to be part of your hobby burn you out. We'll behave. :)

[kennymak167]

enjoy ur break, i hope u will come back soon :D

[griffin]

Thanks guys. I gotta tie up this matter first, which might still take a few more days.
But I'm just really tired right now. It's exhausting work being a moderator when you have to balance out the wants of members with the needs of the whole community. It might sound easy to punish someone who does something wrong, but how do you make it fair to the victim, the offender, and the rest of the community if the punishment impacts on them. That sort of thing takes time, and you need to try to have as much information first before making a decision, or else you may end up punishing the wrong person.
But really, I (and the other board staff) shouldn't even have to punish or penalise anyone. This board was set up to allow toy fans to come together and obsess about their plastic addiction. But some people focussed more on non-toy issues that were avoidable or didn't directly affect them, and would draw in others to make sure they couldn't ignore those non-toy issues either. The distraction from the primary purpose of this board and community leads to hostility, interference and rivalries.

Such negative matters were address a couple months ago to Jaydisc (a lengthy email of recent activities that took me somewhere between 12-15 hours - time I would prefer to be spending on enjoying TFs - everytime the mods are processing issues here, it takes them away from enjoying their hobby). I was hoping that it would put a halt to the interstate rivalry he was trying to drum up between NSW and VIC members. Instead, he has focused on creating a rivalry between board members and board staff, by drumming up support (mostly genuine sympathy, thinking it was something happening to him at work) for a hypothetical situation that relates to a serious matter he wasn't a party to, so doesn't know enough about it to be qualified to interfere.

Since I only remove people who are not an asset here in any way (because it punishes the rest of you who need them, and therefore isn't a fair penalty), a number of people have been given more chances than most of the board staff think they deserve. But in the end, if I get to the point where I'm spending 8-10 hours a day on here processing posts and dealing with external (Sean) and internal (jaydisc) nuisences, there comes a point where I can't keep doing this, and either need to remove the nuisences, or remove myself. Even if he has had a hand in reducing our board staff from 5 to 2 in the last couple weeks, by tying them up for hours a day and preventing them from properly enjoying their hobby, I'm still stuck with what to do because he is still an asset here, which would affectively punish others if he was temporarily or permanently gone.

I would have hoped that all the members here were keen enough about this community, your community, to want to work at keeping it together, not finding ways to split it up. I never intended to have everyone all in one place, but could anyone really think that there would be enough people and post traffic to support seperate state-based forums? I can't imagine any state would at this time, so why risk fracturing our community over petty state-based rivalries?

It's a pity that this internal matter has been noticed by others who hadn't yet been drawn into it. Especially when the 'recent' incident could have been dealt with 3 months ago if it had been brought to our attention in a sensible manner. Instead, a member thought it best to stir things up here, and not care about the impact it has on the board staff. Sure, it's fun to stop by for half an hour, post 'hypotheticals', and update other members on what someone they hate has just done today. But what annoys me more is the lack of concern or awareness of the amount of hours the (unpaid) volunteers donate to cleaning that mess up.

People had a choice to ignore Goktimus (and were repetedly encouraged), but the board staff can't ignore jaydisc activities (we are obligated to deal with them to try to make this board a better place). One of those two intended to cause divisions, rivalry, disruptions and playing the moderators against each other, the other is just unintentionally irritating.

BTW, all the trades in my sales topic will be followed through, even if I'm not here much.

[Hereticpoo]

Dam Grif it sucks to actually hear that.

OTCA is a fantastic board. I love that there are heaps of members, I love that there's not too many members because the place feels familiar.

It feels familiar and welcoming because we're all so constant with sharing our thoughts and posting our opinions that I get a picture in my head of someone's personality.

As opposed to the big US sites were thereare thousands of members and its hard to tell who's who in the zoo. :)

Mate enjoy your break, Paulbot, Dirge I hope you guys hang around.

Grif if someone is negatively impacting the staff they impact the board and frankly the community doesn't need that.

I just hope all this strange headbutting and negative cr@p leaves our board because the new OTCA layout and the way its been heading is fantastic!
Thanks for your hard work, and thanks to the rest of the mods for all of there personal time and effort.

Peace :)

[optimus1]

I just hope conflicts get resolved, OTCA really is a great forum!
There really is no need for negativity. Even if some of us cannot take the opportunity to be as active on the forum as others, we are all fans with the common interest that are Transformers.

Take care Griffin, I also hope the other mods can also take it easy.

[Kyle]

People had a choice to ignore Goktimus (and were repetedly encouraged)

It's easier said than done though. I know it's not really Goktimus' intention but I too am human and do get irritated by him often, so I can understand how some of us feel. I don't believe it was ever the active consciousness of any member to create rivalry though. Ultimately, I consider Goktimus an asset (an asset that often causes irritations :o ), and believe we all deserve another go. Since this is now kind of discussed out in the open, I sincerely hope Goktimus can understand that as much as he's passionate and over excited about Transformers and the fandom and feels he should share his knowledge and educate everybody, ultimately many of us come to the forum to enjoy Transformers in our own ways. I'm sorry if some of our ways to enjoy Transformers is not so "perfect" by your standard, but we aren't in your classroom and we don't come here to be schooled or corrected or educated. That would be fun for you but not fun for us. It's not always about if we think something's right or wrong, it can also be about whether it'll make another person feel just a little better. Things don't have to be so precise or correct all the time, like Shockwave ("Your opinion is illogical!") If you can tolerate others, then others will tolerate you too. I don't mean we should all stop sharing knowledge, just that there's no need to correct every minor detail. And sometimes you can just nod politely and move on if another person has a completely different idea or preference.

Bossbot, I cannot imagine the forum without you around. YOU ARE what makes and keeps the forum going and gets everybody together. I also cannot imagine the forum without Dirge, Jaydisc, Paulbot or Goktimus around. We've already lost DD and I hope he'll come back. The forum will just not be the same without you guys around. :( I also understand that if you guys feel burnt out then you all deserve a break, as long as it's not a long one... :o Thank you all.

[Deonasis]

I'm sorry to hear that this forum has taken it's toll on you and the other mods. I don't contribute much and I don't know any members personally, but I do appreciate the effort the admins put in to maintain and yet grow this site; it really shows through. It is run so well that a thread like this actually makes no sense to me and is a real suprise. Even though you and maybe some others are taking a step back from otca I would hope that you guys don't go too far away.

[Kyle]

I know there's been some issues here and there. But all of a sudden... BAM!!! :(

[1AZRAEL1]

Time for me to put my 2 cents into it.

I missed most, if not all of what went on here that you guys are talking about. I too dont know many of you in person, some I have met briefly at parra collector fairs, and even sold some stuff.

This place was fun when I was here ages ago and due to some problems in my life, had to sort them out before I could come back. This forum Is supposed to be about sharing our passion of Transformers, not to create rivalries. Everyone should be able to accept other peoples opinions if they want people to accept their own. Its a 2 way street.

The point I'm trying to say is, I don't want this forum to fall apart. This place is great for me to talk to Aussie TF fans, go to meets, and the convention (if its still going ahead)

Mods you do a great job, and I hope that "problems" wont make the hobby you love so much become bitter and deter you from returning. Your volunteer work is greatly appreciated and doesnt get said often enough.

[i_amtrunks]

Sad to hear about all the problems boss-bot.

Have a nice break, I hope your wallet can forgive you for all the toys you'll soon be buying with all your new free time! :p

[d*r*j*]

It's a shame that so many people seem to be leaving... Some of the best posters seem to have disappeared recently... I seriously just thought that it was due to the shortage of transformers on the shelves translating into a lack of enthusiasm on the boards. Didn't know there was a whole underworld war going on around me.

What's the rivalry? Someone please answer this... I'm dying to know. "My collection is bigger than yours?" Seriously, what is there to fight about?

I don't feel that I have a right to pass judgement of GP either. He has a lot of transformers and is a bit of a know it all... I just wanted to say that he kind of reminds me of some of the more annoying Star Trek characters; Spock and the robot one in more recent ST. But it's all good every board/ community needs different personalities... and most people here seem to be at least a little socially retarded.

[GoktimusPrime]

I'm sorry for any irritations I've caused. :( I am trying to work on it. Part of the reason that I set up the "Random TF facts" thing in my signature is to let me vent out the urge to edumacate people about Transformers in a hopefully more light hearted way that isn't as intrusive as it's not directed toward any individual. And there is a dedicated thread for discussing those TF facts so that other threads don't get derailed.

Just a suggestion to make life easier while the board is being lightly staffed (and it could work in the future when it's fully staffed again) is Peer Moderation. It works like this...

If someone does something you find concerning - instead of hitting the report button, send them a private message. Respectfully* inform the user of your concern and see if you can privately solve the problems yourselves. If after doing so you are unable to come to a resolution, then escalate the matter to board staff for mediation. It seems to me that the board staff are just getting clogged up with issues that take up their time and I think it would make their job easier if we all shared in the responsibility of resolving our own issues.

By trying to resolve issues ourselves it should make for lighter work for our moderation team.

I submit myself for peer moderation. So if anyone has a concern about something I post then I invite you to send me a PM and tell me about it and I'm sure that we should be able to come to a solution. If either of us is not satisifed with the outcome then we may consider escalation to board staff for external mediation.

--------------------

*Remember not to make it personal. If you have a concern about someone's conduct then purely keep the conversation about that person's conduct and not deviate into discussing their character and becoming inflammatory or abusive. Likewise, if someone is criticising your conduct, do not interpret it as an attack on your person - it's not.
e.g.:
+ "You're so insensitive and patronising the way you're always nitpicking on people!" <--Unacceptable
+ "You come across to others as being insensitive and patronising when you nitpick on people like that." <--Acceptable

[1AZRAEL1]

Gok, I think you have something there. The only thing that may have an issue with that is some people may make it personal.

Eg: "You're so insensitive and patronising the way you're always nitpicking on people!"

Some people may word things wrongly and exacerbate things.

But I do thing we should trial it anyway, it does sound good in theory.

[Sky Shadow]

As soon as I the matter with jaydisc is sorted out (yes boys and girls, that 'hypothetical' conspiracy topic he suckered some of you into, is about this board - just replace manager with moderator, and owner with admin)...

Hold on... that means... the planet on which Jaydisc's conspiracy occurred... was... Earth.

You maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God, damn you all to hell!

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/7066/libertyapesks6.jpeg

Um... Oh, hold on...

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/5205/nycalternatefuture1yq8.jpg

That's better. :D

Anyway, I'm devastated to hear that bizarre, political stuff has been happening behind the scenes and wasting people's time. We're (mostly) grown-ups here and really shouldn't have to be moderated. 'Twas great to see you yesterday, Griff - I hope any break from the board will bring back the fun for you, and if I see any red G2 Slags I'll let you know. :)

[griffin]

It's easier said than done though. I know it's not really Goktimus' intention but I too am human and do get irritated by him often, so I can understand how some of us feel. I don't believe it was ever the active consciousness of any member to create rivalry though. Ultimately, I consider Goktimus an asset (an asset that often causes irritations :o ), and believe we all deserve another go. Since this is now kind of discussed out in the open, I sincerely hope Goktimus can understand that as much as he's passionate and over excited about Transformers and the fandom and feels he should share his knowledge and educate everybody, ultimately many of us come to the forum to enjoy Transformers in our own ways. I'm sorry if some of our ways to enjoy Transformers is not so "perfect" by your standard, but we aren't in your classroom and we don't come here to be schooled or corrected or educated. That would be fun for you but not fun for us. It's not always about if we think something's right or wrong, it can also be about whether it'll make another person feel just a little better. Things don't have to be so precise or correct all the time, like Shockwave ("Your opinion is illogical!") If you can tolerate others, then others will tolerate you too. I don't mean we should all stop sharing knowledge, just that there's no need to correct every minor detail. And sometimes you can just nod politely and move on if another person has a completely different idea or preference.

This issue has now been addressed. Posting restrictions of the person in question have been made, to limit the number and length of posts, to make it more viewer friendly.

[Paulbot]

I will be on less, as already mentioned, but I will be around. I have other things going on that are taking up my time both fun (the planning for my trip to Botcon!) and no so fun (that I don't need to go into here).

[Vector Sigma 13]

How about we just try and control ourselves with the nasty stuff. Remember the off button on the computer? If something ticks you off just get up and go have a coffee or beer or something.

Im no angel myself i know but this is going to be my new plan of attack.

These matters must be awfully difficult to sort over a computer. In real life someone would probably have a blue and be done with it, but on here i guess its all an attack of typing. No one crawls away with their tail between their legs (not that it should come to that) therefore everything just persists and slowly oozes out across the board. Tainting everyone elses experience. If the Board staff needs a hand with anything (not sure what i could do) just sing out.

[1orion2many]

Guys, I like all of you Griffin, Jaydisc, Dirge and Paulbot and hope all of us can put aside what differences we might have and work things out.

I hate to see ANY of us leave this friendly and fun place. :(

Thanks:eek::(

[Kyle]

Thanks:eek::(

I like you too 1orion2many.

[griffin]

It was a short but energizing break, but after a day or so of limiting contact here, I started to feel bad about neglecting my responsibilities here. I don't want to be egotistical and think you guys need me, but I do feel that if I ignore my duties as an Admin, the members suffer, just so I get a bit of free time. It felt a bit selfish. And besides, you guys are still a lot of fun to hang out with (I wouldn't be such a fan-meet junky...), to be able to stay away from here for more than a few days.
And it has been a fairly big week this week with the US Toyfair revealing a lot more than I expected, and the full 2 minute TF2 trailer being released. Yay! :)