Bardo
11-16-2008, 11:48 PM
In the opinion of the staff and several other respected posters, the tone of The Source has really turned sour over the last few months. Staff is now confronted with that old vindictive, antagonistic and surly mentality that used to prevail on this site back in the day. The site has come a long way since then, only to lose ground.
I speak for all of the staff when I say we want The Source to be the most respected and relevant online forum for the discussion and development of the Legacy format.
The best way to do that is to promote a healthy intellectual environment; where the herd mentality is minimal, where new and long-time posters are free to suggest novel ideas without the "Commissars of Legacy" flaming them into submission. Basically, a community where people are respectful of others; and where ideas are attacked, not the people stating those ideas. Remember, this is website devoted to the Legacy format of Magic: the Gathering. It is not LiveJournal. If someone consistently brings out the worst in you, add them to your "Ignore List (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/profile.php?do=addlist&userlist=ignore&u=1934)."*
So, for the next couple of months, staff are going to be particularly vigilant for disrespectful, flaming and other antagonistic bullshit. We are going to be more liberal with dispensing warnings and will escalate verbal warning into full warnings at a quicker rate.
Imagine you're driving through a road-side construction site and you see a sign that says "All traffic fines are doubled for the next 2 miles." Those next "2 miles" are the next two months and this announcement is that sign. If this results in a few condescending and problematic users getting banned, that is something we can live with. Though, that is not our objective.
One last point. Historically, the most difficult posters to moderate are those that constantly walk the line between subtle/condescending insults and outright flaming. These are posters that generally follow the letters of the rules (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7455) and know better than to outright say "You're an asshole," but ignore the spirit of the rule, which is to participate in healthy and productive conversation. Anyway, we're also going to be watching for that sort of behavior, relying on the "We know it when we see it" test.
Again, this is "Your Source for Legacy." Let's keep it that way.
- MTS Staff
* j/k, James. ;)
I speak for all of the staff when I say we want The Source to be the most respected and relevant online forum for the discussion and development of the Legacy format.
The best way to do that is to promote a healthy intellectual environment; where the herd mentality is minimal, where new and long-time posters are free to suggest novel ideas without the "Commissars of Legacy" flaming them into submission. Basically, a community where people are respectful of others; and where ideas are attacked, not the people stating those ideas. Remember, this is website devoted to the Legacy format of Magic: the Gathering. It is not LiveJournal. If someone consistently brings out the worst in you, add them to your "Ignore List (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/profile.php?do=addlist&userlist=ignore&u=1934)."*
So, for the next couple of months, staff are going to be particularly vigilant for disrespectful, flaming and other antagonistic bullshit. We are going to be more liberal with dispensing warnings and will escalate verbal warning into full warnings at a quicker rate.
Imagine you're driving through a road-side construction site and you see a sign that says "All traffic fines are doubled for the next 2 miles." Those next "2 miles" are the next two months and this announcement is that sign. If this results in a few condescending and problematic users getting banned, that is something we can live with. Though, that is not our objective.
One last point. Historically, the most difficult posters to moderate are those that constantly walk the line between subtle/condescending insults and outright flaming. These are posters that generally follow the letters of the rules (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7455) and know better than to outright say "You're an asshole," but ignore the spirit of the rule, which is to participate in healthy and productive conversation. Anyway, we're also going to be watching for that sort of behavior, relying on the "We know it when we see it" test.
Again, this is "Your Source for Legacy." Let's keep it that way.
- MTS Staff
* j/k, James. ;)