A tale of mods and mice

[Zeracles]

We could go somewhere else. Then we'd give Lukipela, Death or whoever all the authority they want. Because Chad and Scott clearly don't care and deserve to have a ghost town on their hands.

As for who a Trump-styled mod would ban, he'd ban intelligence. So he'd have questions posed to each new member. They need to be able to get past the bot-filter questions, but not be smart enough to correctly answer much more than that. And he'd only be a proxy for some obscure Russian member (Spektrowski?). Finally, while calling all we've had fake news, he'd replace the PNF front page with his twitter feed. Better than nothing, I guess.

[Nuclear]

At least we would have an inexhaustible supply of keks for the front page, and the SCDB will be more prosperous than it had been in many years. That is, until the anarcho-communist revolt concludes and we all evenly divide the site amongst ourselves and spend the rest of eternity intellectually witch-hunting one another.

You think Death will be as amusing as trump? I bet he doesn't even advocate shocking the gay away.

[Scott Irving]

It's not a lack of care.. well maybe it is, I don't know, I have little free time to work on PNF or prowl the forums. Perhaps I should have a poll see what people want? I'm certainly open to the idea of having other mods, just a matter of somebody trust worthy and somebody does indeed want to do it, I never took mod powers away of my own accord.

All I can say for Chad is he to is busy with his personal life and family, but give him credit he continues to pay for the domain and hosting year after year for 2 decades and counting.

[krulle]

And it's also not as if the game has new developments we all can gossip about.

I thank thee both for your efforts!

[Zeracles]

You think Death will be as amusing as trump?

Not a chance! Too smart, too PC and too eloquent. Severely overqualified! Now where's that trapdoor emoticon?

Thanks Scott for resurfacing. Sorry about being harsh, but sometimes it's necessary. I trust you understand that there are members who would prefer that this place not die, and might move if this place continues to suffer terminal neglect.

All I can say for Chad is he to is busy with his personal life and family, but give him credit he continues to pay for the domain and hosting year after year for 2 decades and counting.

Not saying I believe it, but a really cynical interpretation of this is also possible.

And it's also not as if the game has new developments we all can gossip about.

I thank thee both for your efforts!

Again, don't want to be harsh but I really think that administration of this place lately has been well below par by any reasonable standard. Anyone who doubts more could be done should look through the archives at what Eth and Luki did, on the old board as well as this one.

The maintenance that has been highlighted is one thing, doing enough for this place to survive is another. Ideally, new mods will regard the office as motivation and empowerment to be more proactive than the mere upkeep we've been talking about. That was the spirit in which Eth and Luki moderated.

[krulle]

I found that if a community gets more active again, the mods follow very shortly too. They do have an interest, otherwise the site would have died through non-renewal of hosting and domain costs.
After two decades of only one real new development, it is understandable that this community is very small and not very attractive.
I've been active here during my study time, and the time drain had no impact on the ones around me.
Then life changed, I did other things and I only came back several years after UQM hit its own low participation rate.
Actually, it was a comment on the UQM board that incited me to come back here again.
If I want to be more active again, I need content to give reason, so that I can justify to myself, because I have plenty of things I could (and should) do instead.
And currently it's only The Troglodyte's report (or section) of his first play through UQM/SC2 I find interesting enough to keep coming back.

[Alvarin]

The "Origins" is supposed to emerge in observable future, on their forums members of closed section hinted numerously that it is busy out there.
I haven't been following the play-through since the save-reload started being prominent, still pop here every couple of days to see if anything is worth a read (Waiting for Eternal doctrine continuation, for example...)
Of people frequenting SCDB new mods would be more than welcome, if only to clean up threads like the latest Jorgi Costava wannabe...
I can volunteer to do such an upkeep, but not guarantee stability of activity at the position... Call it moderate moderating

[Scott Irving]

You'll get no argument from me that...I've neglected the site and community I'm not under any delusion there.

Harsh comments are warranted and I'd fully understand the community moving, obviously I to would prefer PNF and SCCD stay around it's been part of my life for many years.

perhaps a news topic is needed to further discuss what everyone wants and who wants to help out that type of thing.

[The Troglodyte]

I've been hesitant to voice my opinion on the matter (mostly due to forum policy), but since it appears to have become an open discussion, I must admit I find myself agreeing with much of what Zeracles has to say (except the part about leaving and stuff).

I think the main request has been for supplemental moderation and/or administration. The guys in charge clearly cannot always be readily available in a forum that admittedly has a small flow of traffic, but since there are some folks that have been here for a long time and stay consistently involved (like Death and Alvarin who have both volunteered, and I also think Draxas would be a good candidate if he's interested) I believe the addition of more representation would allow for the interests of the continued existence of the forum, as well as displaying a presence of being more "on-point" than what's been happening lately.

And yes, I think somebody (*cough*) should open another topic for further discussion, but mostly 'cause I'm tired of replying to the "BUY MY $#!+" topic.

[Zeracles]

The "Origins" is supposed to emerge in observable future, on their forums members of closed section hinted numerously that it is busy out there.

The new star control game, if it is at all successful, should lead to some (hard to say how much) interest in what will then have become the "classic" star control games. There's an oportunity for this place and UQMF to find their niche, in an environment with new fans, as the place to discuss classic star control. And a place to share development ideas for those so-inclined. This is much about positioning this place to look the part, and serve those functions. But an ordinary member can't do it because it requires access to the front page and authority to arrange the boards accordingly.

I can see this place treading a path along which it will miss this opportunity, and die. This frustration is where this is coming from at my end.

Mere upkeep is required because if basic things like registering new members is faulty, we're not even close. That's necessary, but not sufficient, because of what I say above.

So when I talk about the new moderators doing more than mere upkeep, what I have in mind is this "positioning". Probably not as much work as what Eth and Luki were doing, which is good because Luki's effort in particular was unsustainable.

What I'd like to do is put a vegetable raygun to Lukipela's head and march him back to ZFP Peacekeeping HQ. He's probably not interested because he thinks it'd be as much work as what he was doing. But I don't think it needs to be. I'd do it if asked, but it'd still take time and with other commitments, I'm not keen unless it looks like, collectively, it may be difficult to find personnel aware of this imperative along with sufficient skill, diligence and time . . . in which case I would be keen.

And yes, I think somebody (*cough*) should open another topic for further discussion, but mostly 'cause I'm tired of replying to the "BUY MY $#!+" topic.

Maybe split the topic at about where Numbers pointed out that this is how forums die.