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Post by Spud on Feb 22, 2018 22:11:47 GMT -8
The situation on this board has gotten completely asinine with the half dozen or so idiots who have completely trashed and polluted (much to their glee) what was once a fantastic source of information and community for Aztec fans. I have tried to address this with the moderators on a number of occasions and have been completely ignored. It's not brain surgery. And it's a very easy issue to address and to remedy. But for whatever the reason, the guys who run this board are more than happy to have the clowns run the circus. I'm inches away from hanging it up and taking my Aztec fandom elsewhere. Here' the latest exchange with the person who runs this board. Frankly, it's pathetic. Gents, This troll situation needs to be addressed. The board has become intolerable for me. And I've been posting here and on the two previous iterations since online bulletin boards first came on the scene in 1995-ish. There are a handful of posters here whose sole purpose is to take delight in throwing stinkbombs everywhere and anywhere, hijacking threads with word-salad gibberish, pushing buttons with abandon, and creating a general nuisance to the point where I and core group of significant contributors are days away from washing our hands forever of this forum and taking our Aztec fandom elsewhere. It's a problem. A big one. I've mentioned this and complained about it on a few other occasions, as have others. But absolutely nothing has been done about the obvious, deliberate and relentless thread hijackers who've made a mockery of what this board should be all about. So what's the solutions? I propose this: There are about a dozen core posters who are equally dissatisfied and outraged by incessant demeaning actions/words spewing from the keyboards of a handful of community members. We should convene a round table prior to the SDSU-Nevada game. Meet over some pizza and beer. Hear us out. Hopefully we can come together as a group and implement some steps and processes that make this forum work better than ever. But please know that the status quo isn't working. At all. Let me know your thoughts, as well as if you'd like to take me up on the offer of convening a roundtable. Best regards, LTB As AztecWilliam, I am just a regular member. Please send this message to my official persona, which is William L. Rupp. By the way, you should cite examples of posters who are troublemakers. If you have particular people in mind, why not just ignore their threads and posts? (Another thought; how to define a troll may ultimately be rather problematic.) Thanks, AzWm Seriously? That's your response? This is a huge issue. It has become intolerable. And I don't want to run around grabbing every example of troll-ism on this board. Way too much work. I've written you in the past about certain members and was told to ignore them. Which I did. But that's a suboptimal solution. Especially when half of all threads are regularly hijacked by these knuckleheads who add nothing but bile and mayhem (much to their own delight) to the conversation. As quick evidence, just go peruse the threads about Why no Official Game Thread?, Kell Update, and Kell/Hemsley. Those are travesties. And if you can't tell who the trolls are by scrolling through them, then what are you doing moderating a chat board? So, I ask again. Are you willing to have a roundtable with a group of your best and most-reliable contributors and hear us out? Or not? Ball's in your court. And please don't try to put the turd back in my pocket. Thanks, LTB LBT, you're a good dude...not sure why anyone gets all riled up on a message board...There are just as many Pro-Trolls as Anti-Trolls...neither can live without the other. If you're that pissed about it, then take a break...go hang on the Facebook fan pages.
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Post by richpjr on Feb 22, 2018 22:25:43 GMT -8
One of the forum rules:
*Do Not quote messages sent by PM on the open board.
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Post by johneaztec on Feb 22, 2018 22:26:05 GMT -8
I actually counted 5. Oh well. Good looking out. Thanks
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Post by johneaztec on Feb 22, 2018 22:27:11 GMT -8
I actually counted 5. Oh well. Good looking out. I'm seeing 6 now. Proud of me?
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Post by northcountymike on Feb 22, 2018 22:34:37 GMT -8
I seeing 6 now. Proud of me? Actually, I see 7.
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Post by northcountymike on Feb 22, 2018 22:35:43 GMT -8
The situation on this board has gotten completely asinine with the half dozen or so idiots who have completely trashed and polluted (much to their glee) what was once a fantastic source of information and community for Aztec fans. I have tried to address this with the moderators on a number of occasions and have been completely ignored. It's not brain surgery. And it's a very easy issue to address and to remedy. But for whatever the reason, the guys who run this board are more than happy to have the clowns run the circus. I'm inches away from hanging it up and taking my Aztec fandom elsewhere. Here' the latest exchange with the person who runs this board. Frankly, it's pathetic. Gents, This troll situation needs to be addressed. The board has become intolerable for me. And I've been posting here and on the two previous iterations since online bulletin boards first came on the scene in 1995-ish. There are a handful of posters here whose sole purpose is to take delight in throwing stinkbombs everywhere and anywhere, hijacking threads with word-salad gibberish, pushing buttons with abandon, and creating a general nuisance to the point where I and core group of significant contributors are days away from washing our hands forever of this forum and taking our Aztec fandom elsewhere. It's a problem. A big one. I've mentioned this and complained about it on a few other occasions, as have others. But absolutely nothing has been done about the obvious, deliberate and relentless thread hijackers who've made a mockery of what this board should be all about. So what's the solutions? I propose this: There are about a dozen core posters who are equally dissatisfied and outraged by incessant demeaning actions/words spewing from the keyboards of a handful of community members. We should convene a round table prior to the SDSU-Nevada game. Meet over some pizza and beer. Hear us out. Hopefully we can come together as a group and implement some steps and processes that make this forum work better than ever. But please know that the status quo isn't working. At all. Let me know your thoughts, as well as if you'd like to take me up on the offer of convening a roundtable. Best regards, LTB As AztecWilliam, I am just a regular member. Please send this message to my official persona, which is William L. Rupp. By the way, you should cite examples of posters who are troublemakers. If you have particular people in mind, why not just ignore their threads and posts? (Another thought; how to define a troll may ultimately be rather problematic.) Thanks, AzWm Seriously? That's your response? This is a huge issue. It has become intolerable. And I don't want to run around grabbing every example of troll-ism on this board. Way too much work. I've written you in the past about certain members and was told to ignore them. Which I did. But that's a suboptimal solution. Especially when half of all threads are regularly hijacked by these knuckleheads who add nothing but bile and mayhem (much to their own delight) to the conversation. As quick evidence, just go peruse the threads about Why no Official Game Thread?, Kell Update, and Kell/Hemsley. Those are travesties. And if you can't tell who the trolls are by scrolling through them, then what are you doing moderating a chat board? So, I ask again. Are you willing to have a roundtable with a group of your best and most-reliable contributors and hear us out? Or not? Ball's in your court. And please don't try to put the turd back in my pocket. Thanks, LTB LBT, you're a good dude...not sure why anyone gets all riled up on a message board...There are just as many Pro-Trolls as Anti-Trolls...neither can live without the other. If you're that pissed about it, then take a break...go hang on the Facebook fan pages. While I personally don't think he's "a good dude," I agree with the rest of your post 100%.
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Post by William L. Rupp on Feb 22, 2018 23:05:54 GMT -8
The situation on this board has gotten completely asinine with the half dozen or so idiots who have completely trashed and polluted (much to their glee) what was once a fantastic source of information and community for Aztec fans. I have tried to address this with the moderators on a number of occasions and have been completely ignored. It's not brain surgery. And it's a very easy issue to address and to remedy. But for whatever the reason, the guys who run this board are more than happy to have the clowns run the circus. I'm inches away from hanging it up and taking my Aztec fandom elsewhere. Here' the latest exchange with the person who runs this board. Frankly, it's pathetic. Gents, This troll situation needs to be addressed. The board has become intolerable for me. And I've been posting here and on the two previous iterations since online bulletin boards first came on the scene in 1995-ish. There are a handful of posters here whose sole purpose is to take delight in throwing stinkbombs everywhere and anywhere, hijacking threads with word-salad gibberish, pushing buttons with abandon, and creating a general nuisance to the point where I and core group of significant contributors are days away from washing our hands forever of this forum and taking our Aztec fandom elsewhere. It's a problem. A big one. I've mentioned this and complained about it on a few other occasions, as have others. But absolutely nothing has been done about the obvious, deliberate and relentless thread hijackers who've made a mockery of what this board should be all about. So what's the solutions? I propose this: There are about a dozen core posters who are equally dissatisfied and outraged by incessant demeaning actions/words spewing from the keyboards of a handful of community members. We should convene a round table prior to the SDSU-Nevada game. Meet over some pizza and beer. Hear us out. Hopefully we can come together as a group and implement some steps and processes that make this forum work better than ever. But please know that the status quo isn't working. At all. Let me know your thoughts, as well as if you'd like to take me up on the offer of convening a roundtable. Best regards, LTB As AztecWilliam, I am just a regular member. Please send this message to my official persona, which is William L. Rupp. By the way, you should cite examples of posters who are troublemakers. If you have particular people in mind, why not just ignore their threads and posts? (Another thought; how to define a troll may ultimately be rather problematic.) Thanks, AzWm Seriously? That's your response? This is a huge issue. It has become intolerable. And I don't want to run around grabbing every example of troll-ism on this board. Way too much work. I've written you in the past about certain members and was told to ignore them. Which I did. But that's a suboptimal solution. Especially when half of all threads are regularly hijacked by these knuckleheads who add nothing but bile and mayhem (much to their own delight) to the conversation. As quick evidence, just go peruse the threads about Why no Official Game Thread?, Kell Update, and Kell/Hemsley. Those are travesties. And if you can't tell who the trolls are by scrolling through them, then what are you doing moderating a chat board? So, I ask again. Are you willing to have a roundtable with a group of your best and most-reliable contributors and hear us out? Or not? Ball's in your court. And please don't try to put the turd back in my pocket. Thanks, LTB As I have posted a number of times, I have chosen to use AztecWilliam for regular fan posts, saving William L. Rupp for official AztecMesa business. My response to you simply emphasized again that I want to keep my fan type posts and AztecMesa posts separate. By no means am I ignoring your concern. Here’s a suggestion. Anyone who feels that certain posters are a problem should identify same and I will immediately ban them. Hmm. On second thought, that might not be such a good idea. Well, the first part does have merit. Let's say that I am presented with a list of unacceptable posters. I PM them and ask them to stop. (Question: stop what? Stop being jerks, based on accusations made by other posters?) I’ll tell you about the responses I have gotten a few times when I did just that. They do NOT say, “Gosh, I’m sorry, I’ll never do that again.” Instead, the offending posters defend themselves is various ways and in no way admit guilt. Okay, what should I do at that point? Well, I could ban them for not issuing a mea culpa when confronted with accusations from other posters. Sorry, but I don’t like that idea any better than the first remedy mentioned above. The policy of this site is that members can be banned for a number of reasons. That would include, although not necessarily limited to, attacking other posters personally (and such offenses would have to be pretty serious), posting something libelous, or posting substantial portions of copyrighted material. In fact, a number of members have been banned since AztecMesa was founded in 2009 one or more of those causes. Unlike what the author of this threat thinks, there is NOT an easy answer to this problem. But let’s examine this problem a bit more. I take issue when somebody attacks Aztec players personally. I get even more riled up when someone says the team has no heart. (What the HELL does that mean???) I may think they are way out of line saying such things about players who are, as far as I know, doing their best. But I don’t think it is right for me to ban such posters because I do not agree with their posts. Being a moderator of a fan website such as this one is not, repeat not easy. Could I do a better job? Probably. I know that sometimes I’m not as quick as I should be to deal with certain issues. But I think it’s worthwhile. My mother graduated from San Diego State in 1939, by late cousin in 1953, and I am a member of the class of 1964. So I’ve been an Aztec fan for a long time, and hope to keep AztecMesa going for a few more years. Oh, yes, I’m afraid I will have to pass on the suggestion to hold a meeting. William L. Rupp
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Post by retiredaztec on Feb 22, 2018 23:09:25 GMT -8
A 2017 edition of Aztec football, showing so much promise during the season tanks late in the season.
A men's basketball program that has been a disappointment, yet at this stage is primed to possibly salvage the new coach's first season, (with no idea what the next season will bring).
A university support system still smarting from the reality that MV and "SDSU West" will not be the given as once thought after the departure of the city's last NFL team.
A university going through an identity crisis with the prospect of having to change it's moniker and mascot.
Yes, lacking any National Championships lately, not breaking ground on new facilities in MV just yet, and having to live with the reality that, once again, there are those offended by Monte Montezuma, (can I have the statue when the moniker is changed?), I can understand why there would be short fuses.
Now what? Sometimes, dealing with reality, (like Aztec football), is a b*tch. I don't need Kumbaya, but as much as I may disagree, I always try to remember I'm talking to fellow Aztecs. If there's no disagreement, then why have a board?
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Post by johneaztec on Feb 22, 2018 23:27:32 GMT -8
I seeing 6 now. Proud of me? Actually, I see 7. You know what, you're right. I see 7 as well.
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Post by moctezumaii on Feb 23, 2018 6:35:22 GMT -8
I thought you were done quoting the trolls? LOL. (Mock) moctezumaii is Exhibit A, my hunch he is a fan of another school (first guess Lobos) and comes here to trash the program and instigate the board. San Diego State alumni. First game I ever saw was SDSU vs UCLA. Chris Hardy fumbled twice inside the 5-yard line, Aztecs lose 15-18. Rinse. Repeat. 35 years. GO AZTECS!
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Post by azteccc on Feb 23, 2018 6:51:12 GMT -8
The situation on this board has gotten completely asinine with the half dozen or so idiots who have completely trashed and polluted (much to their glee) what was once a fantastic source of information and community for Aztec fans. I have tried to address this with the moderators on a number of occasions and have been completely ignored. It's not brain surgery. And it's a very easy issue to address and to remedy. But for whatever the reason, the guys who run this board are more than happy to have the clowns run the circus. I'm inches away from hanging it up and taking my Aztec fandom elsewhere. Here' the latest exchange with the person who runs this board. Frankly, it's pathetic. Gents, This troll situation needs to be addressed. The board has become intolerable for me. And I've been posting here and on the two previous iterations since online bulletin boards first came on the scene in 1995-ish. There are a handful of posters here whose sole purpose is to take delight in throwing stinkbombs everywhere and anywhere, hijacking threads with word-salad gibberish, pushing buttons with abandon, and creating a general nuisance to the point where I and core group of significant contributors are days away from washing our hands forever of this forum and taking our Aztec fandom elsewhere. It's a problem. A big one. I've mentioned this and complained about it on a few other occasions, as have others. But absolutely nothing has been done about the obvious, deliberate and relentless thread hijackers who've made a mockery of what this board should be all about. So what's the solutions? I propose this: There are about a dozen core posters who are equally dissatisfied and outraged by incessant demeaning actions/words spewing from the keyboards of a handful of community members. We should convene a round table prior to the SDSU-Nevada game. Meet over some pizza and beer. Hear us out. Hopefully we can come together as a group and implement some steps and processes that make this forum work better than ever. But please know that the status quo isn't working. At all. Let me know your thoughts, as well as if you'd like to take me up on the offer of convening a roundtable. Best regards, LTB As AztecWilliam, I am just a regular member. Please send this message to my official persona, which is William L. Rupp. By the way, you should cite examples of posters who are troublemakers. If you have particular people in mind, why not just ignore their threads and posts? (Another thought; how to define a troll may ultimately be rather problematic.) Thanks, AzWm Seriously? That's your response? This is a huge issue. It has become intolerable. And I don't want to run around grabbing every example of troll-ism on this board. Way too much work. I've written you in the past about certain members and was told to ignore them. Which I did. But that's a suboptimal solution. Especially when half of all threads are regularly hijacked by these knuckleheads who add nothing but bile and mayhem (much to their own delight) to the conversation. As quick evidence, just go peruse the threads about Why no Official Game Thread?, Kell Update, and Kell/Hemsley. Those are travesties. And if you can't tell who the trolls are by scrolling through them, then what are you doing moderating a chat board? So, I ask again. Are you willing to have a roundtable with a group of your best and most-reliable contributors and hear us out? Or not? Ball's in your court. And please don't try to put the turd back in my pocket. Thanks, LTB As I have posted a number of times, I have chosen to use AztecWilliam for regular fan posts, saving William L. Rupp for official AztecMesa business. My response to you simply emphasized again that I want to keep my fan type posts and AztecMesa posts separate. By no means am I ignoring your concern. Here’s a suggestion. Anyone who feels that certain posters are a problem should identify same and I will immediately ban them. Hmm. On second thought, that might not be such a good idea. Well, the first part does have merit. Let's say that I am presented with a list of unacceptable posters. I PM them and ask them to stop. (Question: stop what? Stop being jerks, based on accusations made by other posters?) I’ll tell you about the responses I have gotten a few times when I did just that. They do NOT say, “Gosh, I’m sorry, I’ll never do that again.” Instead, the offending posters defend themselves is various ways and in no way admit guilt. Okay, what should I do at that point? Well, I could ban them for not issuing a mea culpa when confronted with accusations from other posters. Sorry, but I don’t like that idea any better than the first remedy mentioned above. The policy of this site is that members can be banned for a number of reasons. That would include, although not necessarily limited to, attacking other posters personally (and such offenses would have to be pretty serious), posting something libelous, or posting substantial portions of copyrighted material. In fact, a number of members have been banned since AztecMesa was founded in 2009 one or more of those causes. Unlike what the author of this threat thinks, there is NOT an easy answer to this problem. But let’s examine this problem a bit more. I take issue when somebody attacks Aztec players personally. I get even more riled up when someone says the team has no heart. (What the HELL does that mean???) I may think they are way out of line saying such things about players who are, as far as I know, doing their best. But I don’t think it is right for me to ban such posters because I do not agree with their posts. Being a moderator of a fan website such as this one is not, repeat not easy. Could I do a better job? Probably. I know that sometimes I’m not as quick as I should be to deal with certain issues. But I think it’s worthwhile. My mother graduated from San Diego State in 1939, by late cousin in 1953, and I am a member of the class of 1964. So I’ve been an Aztec fan for a long time, and hope to keep AztecMesa going for a few more years. Oh, yes, I’m afraid I will have to pass on the suggestion to hold a meeting. William L. Rupp How bout you ask Fembone what she used to do, and do that.
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Post by moctezumaii on Feb 23, 2018 6:52:28 GMT -8
Must say, reading these back and forths reminds me of Catholics vs Protestants. Both worship the same god, both pray for salvation and a destination in the same heaven, yet one side would clamor for the other to be burned at the stake because they worship differently. For the most part, I believe ALL OF US wish the Aztecs nothing but the best. But our interpretation of how the fight is going, what is going into the fight, how the fight is being conducted, etc. are at odds. Not the end result. Heaven. But the little details wherein the devils lie.
I can say that I have NEVER called for another to stop posting. Maybe it comes from being from a big family. We may squabble among ourselves, oh my we squabble. May not sit next to them at Thanksgiving dinner, but we never attempt to kick a family member out for being a jerk.
That's just my two cents. I could be wrong.
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Post by longtimebooster on Feb 23, 2018 7:05:22 GMT -8
As I have posted a number of times, I have chosen to use AztecWilliam for regular fan posts, saving William L. Rupp for official AztecMesa business. My response to you simply emphasized again that I want to keep my fan type posts and AztecMesa posts separate. By no means am I ignoring your concern. Here’s a suggestion. Anyone who feels that certain posters are a problem should identify same and I will immediately ban them. Hmm. On second thought, that might not be such a good idea. Well, the first part does have merit. Let's say that I am presented with a list of unacceptable posters. I PM them and ask them to stop. (Question: stop what? Stop being jerks, based on accusations made by other posters?) I’ll tell you about the responses I have gotten a few times when I did just that. They do NOT say, “Gosh, I’m sorry, I’ll never do that again.” Instead, the offending posters defend themselves is various ways and in no way admit guilt. Okay, what should I do at that point? Well, I could ban them for not issuing a mea culpa when confronted with accusations from other posters. Sorry, but I don’t like that idea any better than the first remedy mentioned above. The policy of this site is that members can be banned for a number of reasons. That would include, although not necessarily limited to, attacking other posters personally (and such offenses would have to be pretty serious), posting something libelous, or posting substantial portions of copyrighted material. In fact, a number of members have been banned since AztecMesa was founded in 2009 one or more of those causes. Unlike what the author of this threat thinks, there is NOT an easy answer to this problem. But let’s examine this problem a bit more. I take issue when somebody attacks Aztec players personally. I get even more riled up when someone says the team has no heart. (What the HELL does that mean???) I may think they are way out of line saying such things about players who are, as far as I know, doing their best. But I don’t think it is right for me to ban such posters because I do not agree with their posts. Being a moderator of a fan website such as this one is not, repeat not easy. Could I do a better job? Probably. I know that sometimes I’m not as quick as I should be to deal with certain issues. But I think it’s worthwhile. My mother graduated from San Diego State in 1939, by late cousin in 1953, and I am a member of the class of 1964. So I’ve been an Aztec fan for a long time, and hope to keep AztecMesa going for a few more years. Oh, yes, I’m afraid I will have to pass on the suggestion to hold a meeting. William L. Rupp You're completely missing the point. And, yes, I copied my original message and sent it to William L. Rupp, to which I received no response. I don't have a problem with contrarian views, disagreements and kerfuffles of all shapes and sizes. I'm a big boy. I didn't cry at the movies when Old Yeller died. And many -- most even -- who are angry/upset/miffed about a certain aspect of an Aztec team/game/issue bring some good points to the table that should be considered. That's the beauty of a board like this. The point is that the community on this board has devolved dramatically over the past couple years due to the mischief of about half a dozen postters who have made it their mission to derail every conversation and wreak general mayhem wherever/whenever they can. It's ridiculous. Someone starts a thread about how they think the Campanile on campus looks beautiful in the sunset and the next thing you know there are six pages of how Trey Kell is the embodiment of evil and he should be drawn and quartered in the public square at noon. And then there are three spin-off threads about the same topic with the same tone and tenor. Further, the arguments contained in those threads are generally inane word salads devoid of substance and designed only cause a commotion. This is unacceptable. And, no, I'm not going to run around wasting my time bringing you a pile of examples because 1) that's you're freaking job as moderator, 2) if you can't see this for yourself, what are you doing moderating a board like this, and 3) if I were to bring you examples (which I did, BTW, pointing you to three off-the-rail threads), your past actions and history suggest you wouldn't do anything with it anyway. As for the suggestion to just block annoying psotters, that's pure laziness and dereliction of duty on your part. I've tried that with two psotters. It doesn't work. Threads still get hopelessly hijacked. I'm still forced to wade through irrelevant, angry responses. And the psotter whom I've blocked still ends up getting reposted in numerous responses to their repetitive inanity. And don't tell me it's hard to define what/who a troll is. That's like a certain someone quibbling over "what the definition of is is." Grow a pair. It's your board. Take control. Use the Justice Potter Stewart approach to defining pornography: "I know it when I see it." I've been on these boards for a long time. For the most part, it's been a great experience. I've met many of the psotters. They're good peeps. My tribe. I've even met you, William, on a few occasions. I harbor no ill will. And I'm sorry for having to air this in public rather than via a PM, but the lack of response has been wholly inadequate. Further, I would have preferred to have sat down face-to-face over beers and pizza with other fellow travelers and provided constructive feedback and developed useful solutions everyone could live with. I'm still puzzled as to why you find that such a non-starter. So there you have it. I've said my piece. I'll be pondering my options at the fork in the road over the next few days. Take care, all. Aztec for Life.
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Post by brokencurse on Feb 23, 2018 7:07:45 GMT -8
(Mock) moctezumaii is Exhibit A, my hunch he is a fan of another school (first guess Lobos) and comes here to trash the program and instigate the board. San Diego State alumni. First game I ever saw was SDSU vs UCLA. Chris Hardy fumbled twice inside the 5-yard line, Aztecs lose 15-18. Rinse. Repeat. 35 years. GO AZTECS! So 35 years of futility? I guess the bowl wins over Houston and Cincinnati and the MWC championships over the last several years didn't happen? If you are a fan you are the most negative fan I've ever seen. All your posts are crap droppings, they don't read like a fan of the school. You $#!+ on the teams more than our rivals do.
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Post by longtimebooster on Feb 23, 2018 7:08:33 GMT -8
How bout you ask Fembone what she used to do, and do that. Word. Problem solved.
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Post by myownwords on Feb 23, 2018 8:08:37 GMT -8
How bout you ask Fembone what she used to do, and do that. Word. Problem solved. Why did she leave? Time? Family?
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Post by aztecterrier on Feb 23, 2018 8:20:54 GMT -8
The situation on this board has gotten completely asinine with the half dozen or so idiots who have completely trashed and polluted (much to their glee) what was once a fantastic source of information and community for Aztec fans. I have tried to address this with the moderators on a number of occasions and have been completely ignored. It's not brain surgery. And it's a very easy issue to address and to remedy. But for whatever the reason, the guys who run this board are more than happy to have the clowns run the circus. I'm inches away from hanging it up and taking my Aztec fandom elsewhere. Here' the latest exchange with the person who runs this board. Frankly, it's pathetic. Gents, This troll situation needs to be addressed. The board has become intolerable for me. And I've been posting here and on the two previous iterations since online bulletin boards first came on the scene in 1995-ish. There are a handful of posters here whose sole purpose is to take delight in throwing stinkbombs everywhere and anywhere, hijacking threads with word-salad gibberish, pushing buttons with abandon, and creating a general nuisance to the point where I and core group of significant contributors are days away from washing our hands forever of this forum and taking our Aztec fandom elsewhere. It's a problem. A big one. I've mentioned this and complained about it on a few other occasions, as have others. But absolutely nothing has been done about the obvious, deliberate and relentless thread hijackers who've made a mockery of what this board should be all about. So what's the solutions? I propose this: There are about a dozen core posters who are equally dissatisfied and outraged by incessant demeaning actions/words spewing from the keyboards of a handful of community members. We should convene a round table prior to the SDSU-Nevada game. Meet over some pizza and beer. Hear us out. Hopefully we can come together as a group and implement some steps and processes that make this forum work better than ever. But please know that the status quo isn't working. At all. Let me know your thoughts, as well as if you'd like to take me up on the offer of convening a roundtable. Best regards, LTB As AztecWilliam, I am just a regular member. Please send this message to my official persona, which is William L. Rupp. By the way, you should cite examples of posters who are troublemakers. If you have particular people in mind, why not just ignore their threads and posts? (Another thought; how to define a troll may ultimately be rather problematic.) Thanks, AzWm Seriously? That's your response? This is a huge issue. It has become intolerable. And I don't want to run around grabbing every example of troll-ism on this board. Way too much work. I've written you in the past about certain members and was told to ignore them. Which I did. But that's a suboptimal solution. Especially when half of all threads are regularly hijacked by these knuckleheads who add nothing but bile and mayhem (much to their own delight) to the conversation. As quick evidence, just go peruse the threads about Why no Official Game Thread?, Kell Update, and Kell/Hemsley. Those are travesties. And if you can't tell who the trolls are by scrolling through them, then what are you doing moderating a chat board? So, I ask again. Are you willing to have a roundtable with a group of your best and most-reliable contributors and hear us out? Or not? Ball's in your court. And please don't try to put the turd back in my pocket. Thanks, LTB As I have posted a number of times, I have chosen to use AztecWilliam for regular fan posts, saving William L. Rupp for official AztecMesa business. My response to you simply emphasized again that I want to keep my fan type posts and AztecMesa posts separate. By no means am I ignoring your concern. Here’s a suggestion. Anyone who feels that certain posters are a problem should identify same and I will immediately ban them. Hmm. On second thought, that might not be such a good idea. Well, the first part does have merit. Let's say that I am presented with a list of unacceptable posters. I PM them and ask them to stop. (Question: stop what? Stop being jerks, based on accusations made by other posters?) I’ll tell you about the responses I have gotten a few times when I did just that. They do NOT say, “Gosh, I’m sorry, I’ll never do that again.” Instead, the offending posters defend themselves is various ways and in no way admit guilt. Okay, what should I do at that point? Well, I could ban them for not issuing a mea culpa when confronted with accusations from other posters. Sorry, but I don’t like that idea any better than the first remedy mentioned above. The policy of this site is that members can be banned for a number of reasons. That would include, although not necessarily limited to, attacking other posters personally (and such offenses would have to be pretty serious), posting something libelous, or posting substantial portions of copyrighted material. In fact, a number of members have been banned since AztecMesa was founded in 2009 one or more of those causes. Unlike what the author of this threat thinks, there is NOT an easy answer to this problem. But let’s examine this problem a bit more. I take issue when somebody attacks Aztec players personally. I get even more riled up when someone says the team has no heart. (What the HELL does that mean???) I may think they are way out of line saying such things about players who are, as far as I know, doing their best. But I don’t think it is right for me to ban such posters because I do not agree with their posts. Being a moderator of a fan website such as this one is not, repeat not easy. Could I do a better job? Probably. I know that sometimes I’m not as quick as I should be to deal with certain issues. But I think it’s worthwhile. My mother graduated from San Diego State in 1939, by late cousin in 1953, and I am a member of the class of 1964. So I’ve been an Aztec fan for a long time, and hope to keep AztecMesa going for a few more years. Oh, yes, I’m afraid I will have to pass on the suggestion to hold a meeting. William L. Rupp William, What I hear you saying is it's too hard for you to monitor the board and make it a place for fun conversation about the Aztecs and that it's easier to let the trolls who want to tear down any intelligent conversation ruin the place, and that your excuse for doing so is a strict enforcement of extremely limited 'rules of conduct' that are so narrow that any bad actors can easily get around them and allow you to ignore their behavior. And one of the rules: do not make any personal attacks, prevents board members from organizing and publically shaming the trolls and taking back the board for those of us that actually care about Aztecs sports. Gotcha. Thanks.
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Post by legkick on Feb 23, 2018 8:31:34 GMT -8
William, What I hear you saying is it's too hard for you to monitor the board and make it a place for fun conversation about the Aztecs and that it's easier to let the trolls who want to tear down any intelligent conversation ruin the place, and that your excuse for doing so is a strict enforcement of extremely limited 'rules of conduct' that are so narrow that any bad actors can easily get around them and allow you to ignore their behavior. And one of the rules: do not make any personal attacks, prevents board members from organizing and publically shaming the trolls and taking back the board for those of us that actually care about Aztecs sports. Gotcha. Thanks. Recall that back when these limited board rules were created, two of the moderators were routinely trashing Coach Long, the football program and the administration, in repetitive threads and posts. Is it any surprise then, that the personal attacks rule doesn't apply to athletes, coaches or the administration? Makes one wonder whether these rules were designed to protect anyone.
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Post by AccessBowlTime on Feb 23, 2018 8:36:55 GMT -8
It seems obligatory that a thread of this kind appear every now and then. I agree with LTB that the sniping can become excessive. However, my recent foray into trying to help William in policing this place engenders empathy for his situation. In my case, I suggested that two prime offenders get a room and take their dispute to a private place and got a snarky reply from one in return. My bad for self-deputizing.
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Post by couldashoulda on Feb 23, 2018 9:32:07 GMT -8
I have been around here for about 7-8 years (previous iteration was "pseudoaztec"). I don't post often, mostly observe. I am a contrarian in many aspects of my life...religion, politics, investing, etc. I know what it is to be a contrarian. But, I don't feel the need to spout my contrary opinions willy nilly. There are some folks on here who seem to feel the need...as if it is their patriotic duty. Or, akin to an arsonist, they seem to like to light it and watch it burn. By evidence of the shear number of posts of some of these posters (like 10-20 posts a DAY in some cases), I think some people either have too much time on their hands, or are somewhat obsessed. The passive-aggressive "I know better than you do" with a wink wink and a ha ha is totally transparent. More and more I am visiting goaztecs.com for my "facts", and less and less here. I always try my best not to be direct and personal in my responses to posts, but I have to say that a certain recent suspension was a much needed rest from that particular tiresome contrarian.
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