Phew, what a morning. I'm finally home and not moderating from my phone, so hopefully I can better address the recent issues.
An inappropriate thread was posted on the site. It did not technically break our site rules, and although I was not a fan of the content, I didn't think it was bad enough to warrant closing immediately. My plan was to keep an eye on it and remove it if necessary. I noticed that vSlayer didn't seem to have an issue with it, and I consulted with my wife who also agreed that, while pretty skeevy, she didn't find it offensive. So, again, I figured I'd keep an eye on it and get an idea of how I should handle it. I did not realize it was upsetting some of our users and that was my mistake.
When I logged on this morning, I was greeted with a torrent of seething anger from one of my mods, posted publicly in the thread. I had no idea they felt that way about the thread until I read those comments; they never made an attempt to contact me directly and never gave me a chance to explain myself; I was just immediately this inhuman, sexist, monster. The comments were deleted for breaking several site rules, and I attempted to speak with the mod in our staff channel. I apologized for not realizing how strongly they felt about the post, tried to explain my reasoning, and consulted with my mod team. The consensus: I fucked up by not closing the thread. So, apology issued and thread closed. I, personally, did not find the content offensive as much as embarassing, but I now see why other users would find it offensive. So, again, mistake made, sincere apology given, thread closed.
Unfortunately, the mod in question was not satisfied with that response. If someone makes a mistake, I'm not sure what else they can do besides apologize and correct the mistake, which is what I have done. The mod insisted they be unmodded and their account "nuked". To honor their request, I unmodded them and placed a ban on their account; if they want to return to TYM, they just need to let me know.
Regarding MikeMetroid, he was unmodded last night. It was not related to his closing of the thread. It was not a decision I made lightly. Mike is a good guy and I wish him nothing but success. And he still has an account here, he just isn't a moderator. When new management comes in, there will always be some issues with long-time staff/mods/users/etc. I don't run the site like Storms, for better or for worse. Sometimes, rather than try to force a partnership, it's better for everyone to part ways.
TYM has a history of allowing sexist content on the site. Whenever a new game is announced, every other thread is trashing the face models, costumes, actresses, etc. I don't plan to allow such content on the site now that I'm the owner. But, seeing how that content was apparently ok on the site, I did not expect this thread to create such a major issue. To prevent this from occurring again, I'll be adding new rules to the TYM Rules and Policies, so users know it's not ok to post such content and it can be moderated quickly without having to use personal judgement.
I hope that makes sense, and again, I apologize to any users I've disappointed with those decisions. I'm just a dude who likes Mortal Kombat and who has never owned or even moderated a community or forum, so I am bound to make many, many more dumbass mistakes. So, when it does inevitably happen, all I ask is that you remember there is a real person on the other side of that RoboCop avatar just trying to do his best to keep this small community happy. I'm not a troll or a monster and you can PM me with any issues you have and I'll be happy to hear you out.
-Woody
An inappropriate thread was posted on the site. It did not technically break our site rules, and although I was not a fan of the content, I didn't think it was bad enough to warrant closing immediately. My plan was to keep an eye on it and remove it if necessary. I noticed that vSlayer didn't seem to have an issue with it, and I consulted with my wife who also agreed that, while pretty skeevy, she didn't find it offensive. So, again, I figured I'd keep an eye on it and get an idea of how I should handle it. I did not realize it was upsetting some of our users and that was my mistake.
When I logged on this morning, I was greeted with a torrent of seething anger from one of my mods, posted publicly in the thread. I had no idea they felt that way about the thread until I read those comments; they never made an attempt to contact me directly and never gave me a chance to explain myself; I was just immediately this inhuman, sexist, monster. The comments were deleted for breaking several site rules, and I attempted to speak with the mod in our staff channel. I apologized for not realizing how strongly they felt about the post, tried to explain my reasoning, and consulted with my mod team. The consensus: I fucked up by not closing the thread. So, apology issued and thread closed. I, personally, did not find the content offensive as much as embarassing, but I now see why other users would find it offensive. So, again, mistake made, sincere apology given, thread closed.
Unfortunately, the mod in question was not satisfied with that response. If someone makes a mistake, I'm not sure what else they can do besides apologize and correct the mistake, which is what I have done. The mod insisted they be unmodded and their account "nuked". To honor their request, I unmodded them and placed a ban on their account; if they want to return to TYM, they just need to let me know.
Regarding MikeMetroid, he was unmodded last night. It was not related to his closing of the thread. It was not a decision I made lightly. Mike is a good guy and I wish him nothing but success. And he still has an account here, he just isn't a moderator. When new management comes in, there will always be some issues with long-time staff/mods/users/etc. I don't run the site like Storms, for better or for worse. Sometimes, rather than try to force a partnership, it's better for everyone to part ways.
TYM has a history of allowing sexist content on the site. Whenever a new game is announced, every other thread is trashing the face models, costumes, actresses, etc. I don't plan to allow such content on the site now that I'm the owner. But, seeing how that content was apparently ok on the site, I did not expect this thread to create such a major issue. To prevent this from occurring again, I'll be adding new rules to the TYM Rules and Policies, so users know it's not ok to post such content and it can be moderated quickly without having to use personal judgement.
I hope that makes sense, and again, I apologize to any users I've disappointed with those decisions. I'm just a dude who likes Mortal Kombat and who has never owned or even moderated a community or forum, so I am bound to make many, many more dumbass mistakes. So, when it does inevitably happen, all I ask is that you remember there is a real person on the other side of that RoboCop avatar just trying to do his best to keep this small community happy. I'm not a troll or a monster and you can PM me with any issues you have and I'll be happy to hear you out.
-Woody