[Threshold]

Of course you aren't alone. There are cliques on this forum that shout down anyone who doesn't agree with them. That's part of the reason the forum is so dead. Rule #1 in the handbook is attack the Evil Commercial Mud Operators (ECMO) by name, and then accuse THEM of being the one on the attack. It works every time too, because after a few days the ECMOs simply can't afford the time to keep responding.

I didn't attack, insult, or criticize a single person by name, though multiple people responded by attacking me by name. Multiple posters outright LIED about things I have done or said in this thread. And yet somehow I am the one who had too much "fire" in their posts? And this is with your "moderator hat" on? If you really want to put your "moderator hat" on, perhaps you should start by removing posts that attack me personally and directly?

This kind of "moderating" is yet another reason why these forums are so dead (and will remain dead unless something changes).


(obvious sarcasm)

Oh no! You mean there will be less horribly biased reviews spamming the system and causing nothing but arguments and flamewars on the forums? That's terrible!


I don't think it is reasonable to assume that at all. I think most review writers have a very explicit agenda that has absolutely nothing to do with contributing to the forums or writing articles.

My evidence for that is the content of the majority of the reviews and the fact that most of those review writers are not posters on the forums and have not submitted articles.

What is your evidence to the contrary?

It isn't analogous at all, because new players are actually a valuable resource. People writing terribly biased, overly subjective, flame/fanboy reviews aren't. Who cares if the people writing those terrible reviews stop writing them? That would actually IMPROVE the site. I think the site would be better if they got rid of reviews entirely. That feature adds nothing to TMS and doesn't distinguish it at all from other sites that already have more traffic in that area (like TMC).

TMS is distinguished by its voting lists, and by the fact that it has a forum with good software, and a readable layout. TMC and some other MUD sites have forums that look more like a hacked up guestbook than an actual forum.

Now, TMS can play to those strengths, or it can try to duplicate features already present on other sites that are already known as "the place" for that feature.

If Lasher wants to improve the traffic on the forum, my suggestions are:

1) Remove all existing moderators and start over with new ones. Keep the ones that are NEVER involved in flame wars or controversies. Similarly, pick new ones who are never involved in flame wars or controversies.

2) Instruct them to moderate heavily: No personal attacks... period. No attacking people by name... whatsoever.

3) Squelch the clique mentality that currently dominates what is left of the forum.

I would love for TMS to become more popular and more heavily trafficked. It really bothers me that there are no MUD related sites out there that generate significant amounts of traffic and buzz. It would be great for all of us if TMS could up its profile and its usage. But there really isn't any hope of that happening unless Lasher can put a stop to the personal attacks and break the crippling clique mentality here.