Statement on what happened to the mods

LMM, you may not have any problem with it personally, but many of the mods here do. Many of them are not willing to give their info to a complete stranger. And besides, like many of the mods, i don't trust him.

 

He is throwing them to the lions of LFL.

Yeah, I think you might be more at home here that at the JC.

 

This whole situation sucks. It's hard to know how to think about it. I just want to get back to speculating on BTW pics like everyone else. But the way I see it, if you truly love this place, you've got to roll with the changes and stay the course, thick and thin. It's one thing to say lets all boycott this place until everyone gets their job back and everthing is back the way it was. But we have to be realistic. That just isn't going to happen. Everyone, including the demoted mods, needs to step back and decide what is best for the forum to continue. Things will never be the same as they were, ever. If changes need to be made for the JC to go on, then so be it. We can't just wish ourselves back to the golden days, or just sit and pout until they magically reappear.

The times they are a-changin

It's a matter of what each individual who comes to these boards, whether it be manager or newbie, mod or sock monger, values from this place and is willing to accept in order to move on.

 

Fact of the matter is that many of us on the FanForce side of things are loyal to Fan Force and not to TFN or the JC. I'm loyal to the friends I have here in Phoenix not to this nebulous thing that consists of these particular forums. THe Phoenix Fan Force will continue, but it doesn't mean that we have to stay loyal to things around here to do so. Many of us don't know right now if we can stay and just move on, but we do know our local friends we made through Fan Force will still be there for us

 

Ok after spending almost an hour reading various pages im ready to say my part. I know i dont post here alot but i have always been a frequent visitor to particuarly the episode 3 spoiler forums every since episode 2 was getting ready for release. I know i dont know any of you personally but seeing how the same people post new things everyday you feel like you know them pretty good and can tell what kind of people they are and how they truly love star wars. Alot of people have said they come here for the spoilers like I do. I would really hate to see these forums shut down just because of one a$$ who think he is all that. Also I think it is unfair with how he treated the mods who are now modless. It is great that they have VIP status but it really does not say anything. If i were a mod i sure as heck would not moderate on these forums knowing someone like Philip a$$hole runs this place. I hope we can get the JC back up the way it was soon. Its just not the same redaing the episode 3 forum since almost all users still bring up the situation with Philip a$$hole and stuff like that. Lets hope the mods and us users do everything in our power to solve this manner quickly as possible and in a mature way.

Join us and together we will destroy PhilipWise.

 

Join us and together we will destroy PhilipWise.

...how? ?

 

...how?

Exactly. You can say that, and it's very romantic and liberating and brave, but what ARE we going to do? Something has to happen, but the JC must move on or we better all go find something else to do.

This isn't an anti-abortion rally, or a sit-down strike at the nearest leather factory. It's a Star Wars Message Board. It's a community of fans and friends who gather together to discuss what they love. I don't want to lose that, no matter WHAT the cost.

HC

 

I would just add that in my opinion, moderating isn't and shouldn't be a popularity contest.

As I previously stated, I don't think there is a problem (or a big deal) with the site owners having contact information.

 

Well unlike an anti-abortion rally, we're trying to uphold a decent principal.

But that's not relevant.

 

...how?

A large majority of the mods should quit and organize themselves at a new site. Those are my honest thoughts about what should happen.

Forget the identification issue, the owner has made it clear he will shut this place down if it is too much trouble. He doesn't care about the efforts of the mods.

"I am altering the deal, pray I don't alter it any further."

 

we're trying to uphold a decent principal.

I understand, but what is the principle that we're trying to uphold here?

That a volunteer, anonymous moderator can keep someone from doing what he wants with his own website?


Now that's a lovely, noble concept, which I readily agree with and would love to see come to be, but let's get real. Is it going to happen?


HC

 

No - that a web-site owner cannot, on whim, ask for private details of any of his mods and then attack them for deciding against providing it, despite giving no reason to the board-going public as to /why/ he wants their details in the first place.

 

how to destroy PhilipWise hmmm that what we as a community gotta figure out

 

No, I don't think his destruction is the way to go. I think working to get him to understand why the mods feel the way they do is the key. Sapes made the comment of working together as a community to get him to understand this, and that's the important thing.

 

A large majority of the mods should quit and organize themselves at a new site. Those are my honest thoughts about what should happen.

That makes perfect sense, in theory. However, the reality is that these boards consume gigabytes of disk space and a ton of bandwidth is eaten up every day. Who's got the money to pay a provider for that? You? Me? None of us, most likely. If something like what you propose was to be considered, some good solid numbers would have to be researched first. How much disk space? how much bandwidth? This place is up 24/7, which is the best provider, who's got the best uptime and can guarantee it? Anybody can find a cheap webhost, but honestly, which ones would provide the uptime we're looking for with 1000's of users and 1000's of posts every day?

At this point, this place *is* a business, and that's what it has to be if you want to keep it the size it is.

Mind you, I don't advocate what PW did at all, it's just that this place is too big to be fan-owned any more. Unless, of course, you charge the fans. Then tell me who would go for it?

 

Well no, it's not really. I don't want to do that ('destroy Philip Wise'), and I can't understand why anyone would. Without him we'll probably end up without boards, and that's not exactly ideal, is it?

 

After reading one of Syntax's posts, I headed over to the rebelscum forums and looked up that 'policy statement' which Phil made a few days ago:


"No doubt there are a few members that have noticed I have removed a few discussions in the last day. These have centered on a small group of members that are unhappy with the "current state" of the forum and my unwillingness to remove a moderator.

To remove any doubt about my position on this, I'm posting the following:

I do not, nor ever will, use a public forum for discussion about how I choose moderators or run the forum. I don't mind a suggestion here or there, but the recent belief that members can lynch a moderator or badger me into making changes are not even remotely acceptable.

If you have input, email me. I will read it and comment as I can. I may not respond individually as my goal is not to make any one person happy, it's to manage the forum in the direction I feel best serves the community.

I never, ever, listen to people that want the good old days back. The good old days were when this was a small community. It is no longer small and compared to the unhappy members, we have many happy ones.

If the forum isn't for you, there are several other forums out there and they are all run by excellent webmasters. You'll be happier, I'll be happier and the community will be happier."

--------------------
Philip Wise
Webmaster - Rebelscum.com


I also noticed a few posts of his, such as this one when a poster was asking why his sig was removed:

"Your sig showed a lack of respect for this forum and you knew it. Notifying you of it would have been an exercise in stating the obvious, something I have little time for."


I can say without a doubt that kind of totalitarianism will never fly at the JC, and it's why he's getting such backlash right now. It's the exact opposite of that moderating style which makes this such a popular community. The boards may belong to Phil Wise, but they're here for our enjoyment, something any good owner should remember. If you want to politely let Phil know this policy isn't for the JC, email him at Philip@rebelscum.com.

 

Uh... wow.

 

Oh dear. That doesn't look good.

How long has Mr. Wise owned TF.N?

 

I get the feeling we are going to loose these forums soon. I will miss coming here. But i do have that mirror site (and am registered) in case we do loose this forum.

 

I for one, will be really really ticked off if we lose these forums. I've been lurking for a long time, and been registered since 2000. The only real reason I come here is for the forums. In posting here, I read the TFN main pages. I'd have no other reason to come here.

 

Im with you Cheri

 

Well, gee...so if one person is being harrassed by a large group of posters...he won't do anything because he's not here to please one person?

Or perhaps, one person has been there for a number of years, and sees something that he thinks would change the forums for the better? Not gonna listen to hime either?

Yeah...phil's style of ruling won't fly here...that's why there are moderators hired to do it for him. I liked it a lot better when he didn't make his presence known.

Although, I would like to give him the chance to be a mod for a day and see how he liked it. I imagine sape will agree with me on this, one of day of real intense moderation on here will make him run screaming from this site and never come back.

 

A couple things to add...

1) If this is about LFL suing TFN... and even someone as wise as DarthSapient is scared. why would any current Mods take that risk?

If they want ANY mod (IE: DarthSapient) held responsible, what's not to say they will find Grilled Sarlacc or Dehrian, or other current 3SA mods responsible too?

2) Even if the Mods do NOT give up their private information. However, thru law, and thru IP checks, there should be ways to find out where you live anyways.

Right?


3) The IRONY is, Without DarthSapient, there are a lot trolls at the 3SA board. The chances of someone posting Illegal links just WENT UP!

 

And so far, I have only read negative comments about Philip Wise. Why is that? All I have seen is someone thinking the negative, when it could have been a positive thing.

As with anyone who has any sort of self respect, once backed into a corner and harrassed like I am sure he has been, there is no giving in.

That would set a precedent and any decision that a person could persuade others to disagree with would be set up for the opposing group to say "You changed your mind about such and such issue, why not mine?".

Think like a business owner, not like your rights are being trampled apon.

Edit

If LFL was sueing TFn LLC, you would easily be able to find out. All you have to do is to go to the state website that the corporation is registered in and pay a small fee to find out if there is any litigation pending.