Hello everyone! I know this post is long but please take the time to read it as it's important that everyone be on the same page about this especially going into the future. Recently there's been a very disturbing trend of harassment towards our staff on and off the forums. I want to state right now that this kind of harassment is absolutely unacceptable in any way, and is very low on our list of things to tolerate. This isn't limited to just members attacking staff, it also applies to our staff towards you guys as well. We take it very seriously no matter who is involved.

We understand that you're all people and that tempers can run hot when you're frustrated and feeling like you're being treated unfairly. I wont pretend that myself and our staff have been flawless shining examples in the past. Everyone is prone to slipping up, and we get that, members and staff alike. All I'm asking is that you put in your best effort to be respectful or at least civil when you have a problem you want resolved. Whether you're dissatisfied with an event we're running or you disagree with an infraction, instead of lashing out and being mean you'll get a much better result if you approach the situation calmly and respectfully, even if you feel personally disrespected.

I accept that there will be instances where you may have a problem with a specific mod's decision, that's why we have multiple possible recourses set up for you. If you're not aware, you may speak to literally any staff member about any problems you might have, and we will listen. If you have problems with multiple mods, come to Stone or myself directly. We are completely open to discussion as long as you're civil about it. We may not always take your side in every matter, but we promise to look at everything as objectively as possible and try to find a happy common ground for everyone. We will do our best to explain to you our reasoning for our decision. We aren't always going to resolve things exactly how you want, but at least we will try, and that's a whole lot better than being told off right away.

I'm not going to sit here and name and shame members who've been complicit with this harassment because there's no point dwelling on the past, I only want to move forward from here in a positive way and hope that we can come together again as a community. As long as you're all aware that you CAN resolve problems without resorting to harassment, we will all be better off for it.

As of late there seems to have been a disconnect between Stone and myself as admins, our moderation team, and you guys as members of this community. I think this is part of the reason things have gotten to the state they are in, and I feel responsible for that as my time and attention has been stretched thin lately. For this, I sincerely apologize. Again, dwelling on the past isn't productive, so from here on out we're going to be putting a greater effort in to improving ourselves as forum leaders as well as any events that we may run for you guys. We'll especially try not to let things drag on with sparse communication in the future.

I haven't officially announced this yet, so I may as well do so now. I've been hired as a web developer to work on SP. This means that SP finally has a dedicated developer that's also actively involved in the community. Whether or not you like me as a person, this is still going to benefit you if you're an invested member of this community and I'm happy to have this opportunity.

In any case, I just want everyone to be on the same page regarding this. Some of the things I've read recently are frankly appalling, and I really do expect better from this community, but I realize maybe this is partially the administration's fault for being distracted. Either way, please refrain from this behavior in the future now that you know you have ways to resolve your problems without resorting to name-calling. If you choose to ignore every opportunity we give you to resolve your problems amicably, then you really give us no choice but to remove you from the site, as it's not fair to us and our staff to have to put up with this while doing our best to run the community. I really hope you understand we honestly don't like banning anybody, but some times there's just no choice left for us once we've put in a reasonable effort to resolve a situation.

Feel free to use this topic to bring up any current problems you have in regards to the site and the way we do things. I've recently instructed the mods to be less harsh with their decisions and we've instituted a few new policies behind the scenes regarding when to give infractions. We've also redesigned the infraction PM you get to include links to the forum rules and a posting guide just in case some of you aren't aware of these. If you wish to discuss the future of BSE specifically please read my post here and reply in that same thread if you have something to add.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I hope in the future things will be better for everyone. We're really trying.

- Jeff & Stone

Sounds good, I'm glad things have calmed down now. It wasn't fun.
I like the idea for the future BSE, also congratulations on getting hired.

Will looks like I missed a great thread... Anyways glad I read this because I know for sure I would have gotten an infraction by mistake of joking around for being serious... So I won't make certain jokes with mods now

Quote from I Pwn3d Jo0

Will looks like I missed a great thread... Anyways glad I read this because I know for sure I would have gotten an infraction by mistake of joking around for being serious... So I won't make certain jokes with mods now

I'm opening myself up for a ribbing here, but I think it really depends on the mod. Not every mod shares your sense of humor and some times if I don't really know someone that well it's hard to tell if they're joking. If you get infracted for a joke at someone's expense, maybe it's best to apologize and just say you meant it as a joke. Most reasonable people would reverse the infraction. I would, depending on the circumstance.

Quote from Jeff

I'm opening myself up for a ribbing here, but I think it really depends on the mod. Not every mod shares your sense of humor and some times if I don't really know someone that well it's hard to tell if they're joking. If you get infracted for a joke at someone's expense, maybe it's best to apologize and just say you meant it as a joke. Most reasonable people would reverse the infraction. I would, depending on the circumstance.

Obligatory Jeff you're dumb loljk.

I'm glad to finally see something like this. Now hopefully I don't have to be extra careful with what I say for fear of another infraction.

Yeah, the forums been a bit toxic lately. Veterans like me are rough tumblers so we can roll with the low tide and high tide.
But it can definitely be better.

In my opinion, if you did anything worth infracting and you know better, then you have no right to pester anyone about it, let alone staff.

Sure, if the infraction is over something truly debatable or you're fairly new to the forums and just made a rookie mistake, that's fine, be respectful and kindly ask the infracting mod to help you to understand why you were infracted. But if you're well over a month old, you should have a grasp on how the forum works and know where to draw the line.

Quote from Jutsu

Yeah, the forums been a bit toxic lately. Veterans like me are rough tumblers so we can roll with the low tide and high tide.
But it can definitely be better.

It isn't just exclusive to the General Section, this is also referring to other events happening in various places in the forum, the BSE being one example that comes to mind.

Quote from Jutsu

Yeah, the forums been a bit toxic lately. Veterans like me are rough tumblers so we can roll with the low tide and high tide.
But it can definitely be better.

Hell yes.

Jeff, I was really hoping you were going to post something about how when a moderator is all of a sudden not a mod anymore that doesn't mean they got 'fired'. Some people I guess don't think asking to step down is a possibility :/

I don't lurk around the forums enough to have seen what happenings have gone down recently, but I do have to say that it is a shame that things seem to have gotten to a point like this. In my tenure as a moderator I don't remember much trouble with members and normally any issues were handled with ease and understanding. I actually most of the time ended up reversing an infraction if a member even just came up to me concerned because the lesson is learned either way.

Hope this message makes the difference needed. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be if this is a constant problem.

I don't know what happened, but I hope this doesn't mean the forums become super strict, in all honesty I'd rather a toxic forum than a forum where every post could get me infracted/banned.

that's not even remotely what this is about, did you even read his post?

yeah Mizu what the fuck I'm gonna just infract you for that!!!

in all seriously you should really read the post entirely, particularly the last few paragraphs. The only thing we wont be tolerating more of is harassment of our staff, and I don't think that's unreasonable. In order to prevent people from harassing our staff (and getting punished for it) I've just explained that there are many easy ways to handle your problems without being a jerk, and I've also explained that we're changing certain policies so that it's less likely you'll get an infraction (as long as you're reasonably following the rules).

Quote from Sacred

I don't lurk around the forums enough to have seen what happenings have gone down recently, but I do have to say that it is a shame that things seem to have gotten to a point like this. In my tenure as a moderator I don't remember much trouble with members and normally any issues were handled with ease and understanding. I actually most of the time ended up reversing an infraction if a member even just came up to me concerned because the lesson is learned either way.

Hope this message makes the difference needed. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be if this is a constant problem.

That's exactly the thing, I don't understand why this is even an issue. The general section is completely fine, it's mostly just a small group of people upset over something really insignificant like BSE to the point where they think it's fine to insult and threaten more than one mod over it. Like is it really the most important thing in your life that it angers you to the point where trying to hurt another human being is acceptable? This is why I'm trying to get across that you shouldn't try to white knight or harass mods just to get what you want, being a stubborn jerk isn't cool. We're open for discussion and try to be as fair as we can and it wont always work out in your favor but we'll at least talk about it. If you choose not to do this you're only backing yourself into a corner by giving us no other options but to remove you from the site, and no amount of BS "power abuse" claims are going to change that. :\

Quote from Arch-Angel

Hell yes.

Jeff, I was really hoping you were going to post something about how when a moderator is all of a sudden not a mod anymore that doesn't mean they got 'fired'. Some people I guess don't think asking to step down is a possibility :/

I didn't even know this was a thing, but I did announce in another topic why Tsang was demodded (inactivity and he's fine with it) but for some reason people still get upset about it as if it was some dramatic thing. If people are doing this to you too I'd be a little surprised. People seem to love spinning reality to fit their narrative.

Quote from Exilement

that's not even remotely what this is about, did you even read his post?

Yeah I did, I just was hoping that's not what was going on is all. don't hurt me.

That is so touching. (Literally not sarcasm. It really was). I've been trying to do just that since i got here, especially after accidentally getting an infraction that accidentally turned into a three week ban. And yes, i promise to be as respectful to staff and members as possible. I didn't know this was such a problem, though. I thought people would have more respect than that.