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Ridding the Toxicity

Props to Brian + all of the mods for the work they do here. This is the only theme park forum (heck, the only forum) I regularly interact with because the great community and the stellar moderation. It's incredibly rare for anywhere on the Internet to have as little drama as OU and the moderators are really to credit for that.

Anyway we could get a TLDR on what happened with Pandora? I'm one of those people who doesn't put their curiosity in check :)

EDIT: I really have to thank everyone else too. People self-moderate around here, which is more than I can say for most other theme park forums...

Things got personal and not reflective of debate on the land.
 
I never had a problem with him, but I see why people did.

I agree, he said funny things, guess that was part of his 'magic', if memory serves me right he was a tad hypocritical too, he can make fun of things, but if anyone made fun at his expense, well, that was another story. I also remember he was very politically incorrect, but again, there was hypocrisy there ... In any case, when it comes to political correctness, I tend to be neutral on it, I think sometimes people get too fired up over nothing, but on the other hand I believe in civility. I think Brian envisions a more professional forum, and I like that, it is also why I am active here (I generally dislike social media/interaction). So anyway, Fatality was a troll, and if you want something reputable, you simply can't have that.

He attempted to DOX a forum user via PM. That was the final straw.

What's DOX'ing? Quick google search says trying to fish for and spread personal information. If so, that's creepy.

People self-moderate around here, which is more than I can say for most other theme park forums...

I love self-moderation, my biggest issue with social media is that people cannot ever control themselves and because it is just online they feel they can say/do anything. I never get it why people have to be so combative, then again, I am a writer and philosopher yet generally detest debate and I generally shy away from social interaction.

I'm with the peace.

I'm with you, as I'm very much into the ancient Greek concept of ataraxia, tranquility; heck, we're all just organisms trying to somehow sustain ourselves :)

^I'm with the "ignore" button.

Exactly. Sometimes you have to just be the better man and ignore things. I use to get in to online arguments and lose sleep over it, then I said, you know, F-it, don't respond, and I sleep much better :)
 
I agree, he said funny things, guess that was part of his 'magic', if memory serves me right he was a tad hypocritical too, he can make fun of things, but if anyone made fun at his expense, well, that was another story. I also remember he was very politically incorrect, but again, there was hypocrisy there ... In any case, when it comes to political correctness, I tend to be neutral on it, I think sometimes people get too fired up over nothing, but on the other hand I believe in civility. I think Brian envisions a more professional forum, and I like that, it is also why I am active here (I generally dislike social media/interaction). So anyway, Fatality was a troll, and if you want something reputable, you simply can't have that.



What's DOX'ing? Quick google search says trying to fish for and spread personal information. If so, that's creepy.



I love self-moderation, my biggest issue with social media is that people cannot ever control themselves and because it is just online they feel they can say/do anything. I never get it why people have to be so combative, then again, I am a writer and philosopher yet generally detest debate and I generally shy away from social interaction.



I'm with you, as I'm very much into the ancient Greek concept of ataraxia, tranquility; heck, we're all just organisms trying to somehow sustain ourselves :)



Exactly. Sometimes you have to just be the better man and ignore things. I use to get in to online arguments and lose sleep over it, then I said, you know, F-it, don't respond, and I sleep much better :)

Lots of ground to cover in retort.. but...

I liked him at first because he backed me up, but it quickly became apparent that he was going too far - and coming from me that's saying a lot.

I've been DOX'ed. It's not fun. I've had death threats mailed to me over forum posts. Notes left on my car. Same instigator of that nonsense recently got someone I know fired (who ironically had supported said instigator in the past trying to get me to think he wasn't such a bad guy. At the risk of further attack, ill just say there's a reason there's the saying "rotten to the core.." ...less.)

Self moderation is better than the ego of one moderator but it can also lead to herd mentality and people ganging up on others. In the Pandora stuff nothing was "heated" on my side and for the most part it was just arguing the debate with various folks. Several people took that as "omg mommy and daddy are fighting again" type trauma. They self escalated. It was weird.

As a writer and sometimes philosopher (one who hates formal philosophy - in particular academic philosophy, with a passion) I enjoy debate and often play devils advocate because I think all sides can be examined. The unexamined life is the boring one. I'm also notably not shy.

Im fond of Greek stoicism. "I'm sorry you have to die" is often the end resultant quote to describe me, of those Facebook personality surveys I do. I'm also described in D&D stats as being "chaotic good." Long story short, i do what I think is right regardless of the "the rules."

And finally i don't think ignoring things is better in the long run. There are obvious trolls, but I tend to give people the benenfit of the doubt and try to educate before writing them off.
 
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I've been DOX'ed. It's not fun. I've had death threats mailed to me over forum posts. Notes left on my car. Same instigator of that nonsense recently got someone I know fired

It's like the guy who has been divorced three times. At some point, don't you look in the mirror and think, while maybe not solely to blame, you certainly play a role.
If that kind of stuff would have happened before to me, I'd make certain I change my behavior or I'd simply withdrawal myself from forums.
Yes, you're overly negative, but I don't mind differing opinions- and certainly appreciate and respect yours. But if you're continually in the middle of the drama, it might be time for self reflection, no?
 
It's like the guy who has been divorced three times. At some point, don't you look in the mirror and think, while maybe not solely to blame, you certainly play a role.
If that kind of stuff would have happened before to me, I'd make certain I change my behavior or I'd simply withdrawal myself from forums.
Yes, you're overly negative, but I don't mind differing opinions- and certainly appreciate and respect yours. But if you're continually in the middle of the drama, it might be time for self reflection, no?

That's harsh. Nobody deserves that regardless of what they say.

At the end of the day, we're only giving opinions about theme parks, for the most part, it's utterly meaningless, just a lot of fun.

I think I agree with @epcyclopedia about 50% of the time but he always poses good arguments and has the credentials and knowledge to support whatever he thinks. You gotta respect that, even if you disagree on the topic.
 
Lots of ground to cover in retort.. but...

I liked him at first because he backed me up, but it quickly became apparent that he was going too far - and coming from me that's saying a lot.

I've been DOX'ed. It's not fun. I've had death threats mailed to me over forum posts. Notes left on my car. Same instigator of that nonsense recently got someone I know fired (who ironically had supported said instigator in the past trying to get me to think he wasn't such a bad guy. At the risk of further attack, ill just say there's a reason there's the saying "rotten to the core.." ...less.)

Self moderation is better than the ego of one moderator but it can also lead to herd mentality and people ganging up on others. In the Pandora stuff nothing was "heated" on my side and for the most part it was just arguing the debate with various folks. Several people took that as "omg mommy and daddy are fighting again" type trauma. They self escalated. It was weird.

As a writer and sometimes philosopher (one who hates formal philosophy - in particular academic philosophy, with a passion) I enjoy debate and often play devils advocate because I think all sides can be examined. The unexamined life is the boring one. I'm also notably not shy.

Im fond of Greek stoicism. "I'm sorry you have to die" is often the end resultant quote to describe me, of those Facebook personality surveys I do. I'm also described in D&D stats as being "chaotic good." Long story short, i do what I think is right regardless of the "the rules."

And finally i don't think ignoring things is better in the long run. There are obvious trolls, but I tend to give people the benenfit of the doubt and try to educate before writing them off.

I'm not going to get too deep into a philosophical reply as my head's just not in it today, but I get what you are saying. I do the Devil's Advocate thing myself quite a bit. My wife wants to choke me at times over it. Theres ways to do it and ways not to. Your posts frequently come off as negative. That's across a wide range of subjects. Doesn't matter if you are right or not. Whether you are just being logical about a situation or not, how you say things matters more than what you say sometimes. It's kinda like calling someone a fat ass versus saying they could afford to lose a few pounds. Both are accurate, but one is going to lead to a different reaction. Once you paint yourself into that corner though, its hard to get out. You build a reputation within a person's mind and that changes how they react to you regardless what you say. I catch myself skimming your posts sometimes when I'd rather not be bothered by negativity. Mike clearly had a different response to you and I could see the ban coming. Oddly enough, I felt you were rather objective on the Avatar stuff on your food review. Based on your previous posts, I was expecting you to tear it to shreds.

Either way, sometimes it's best before you hit post, to read back over what you said and see how you'd respond to it if someone else wrote it.
 
Maybe we should lock this thread before it becomes the opposite of its intention?
 
That's harsh. Nobody deserves that regardless of what they say.

At the end of the day, we're only giving opinions about theme parks, for the most part, it's utterly meaningless, just a lot of fun.

I think I agree with @epcyclopedia about 50% of the time but he always poses good arguments and has the credentials and knowledge to support whatever he thinks. You gotta respect that, even if you disagree on the topic.

It wasn't my intent to sound harsh. Sorry if it did. Of course no one deserves any of that treatment. The other person is clearly the psycho in that scenario. Likewise, @epcyclopedia should not have been banned in this latest incident- he was simply the target of Mike- who certainly deserved the ban after repeated warnings.
My point was that if you are constantly on the receiving end of these situations- One should ask themselves, why? Am I making myself a target, etc? I'm not saying he should change- it's the other people that are the issue. But if I'm an antagonizer, then I would expect retaliation. If he's cool with that, that's on him. Me? I wouldn't be- I'd just remove myself or change. But if I'm a mod, it would certainly annoy me that I have to defend members that keep poking bears.

On a completely separate issue. It's awesome that bri and the others actually have threads like this. Bringing us "behind the curtain" is always great for community. I really respect and appreciate everybody here.
 
Yeah let's not turn this into a blame game, airing of grievances, or "defend yourself". This post was a general statement and explanation of current events.

Thanks,

Joe
 
It wasn't my intent to sound harsh. Sorry if it did. Of course no one deserves any of that treatment. The other person is clearly the psycho in that scenario. Likewise, @epcyclopedia should not have been banned in this latest incident- he was simply the target of Mike- who certainly deserved the ban after repeated warnings.
My point was that if you are constantly on the receiving end of these situations- One should ask themselves, why? Am I making myself a target, etc? I'm not saying he should change- it's the other people that are the issue. But if I'm an antagonizer, then I would expect retaliation. If he's cool with that, that's on him. Me? I wouldn't be- I'd just remove myself or change. But if I'm a mod, it would certainly annoy me that I have to defend members that keep poking bears.

On a completely separate issue. It's awesome that bri and the others actually have threads like this. Bringing us "behind the curtain" is always great for community. I really respect and appreciate everybody here.

I think it really depends on how strongly the user think their opinions are. On the whole, this is a super friendly board.

I think we should have a general chit chat thread where people can talk about anything so we can slightly get to know the people behind the posts although I can understand people wanting to keep things private.
 
^THIS.

It's a Universal fanboi forum - get over yourselves. Relish in the debate, and don't take it personally when someone has something critical to say about a particular park that you feel responsible for defending.

If you have to resort to personal attacks it just means you didn't have a valid argument, to begin with. I think we're all a lot smarter than that.
 
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