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[greatgeek]

They choose to die on the tiniest hill known to man. Humans just like a bit of drama.

All this over the recent allegations? C'mon bruh, people already disliked Evilore for other reasons but at this point they are just joining in on the mass hysteria because it might feel amusing, and then if/when that replacement website doesn't take off they will regret it.

Right? Enough of this shit. So sad that they don't want to commit to being members of this community. Everyone seriously considering account suicide should just leave already. They can only really hope to gratify themselves. Everything you say about them is spot on. Really makes you think about how pathetic and weak human beings are. Although I do hope that some of the more established members of the community can convince themselves to stay.

 

[AniHawk]

The way this is all being handled is inexcusably bad, it's just a master class in bad executive decisions. There isn't much community left here, but removing the Off Topic forum because the owner of the website allegedly did something disgusting several years ago -- and was identifies -- is punishing the community for disgusting decisions that the owner of the website made.

Evilore, the Off Topic forum did not make you make the wrong decision or do the wrong thing 2 years ago or 5 years ago. The Off Topic forum did not make Amir0x download child pornography. Yes, the Off Topic forum exposes risk for your business (these three issues are examples of that risk), but the reason your business is a business is largely because the site has both a gaming discussion area (which I think is the initial draw for most members) and then an off topic area (which most members also chat in). I think most people here became members to chat about videogames, but then naturally, you chat about other things you're interested in -- sports, movies, music, or the really specific topics like the Black Culture threads, developer/programming threads, or the communities like WrassleGaf or NFLGaf. Punishing those communities because you or your former staff are exposing your business to risk with poor choices is not the right way to handle this.

There have been a number of high profile sexual assaults in the news lately, and while most folks are talking about Harvey Weinstein, Liberty Mutual -- the investment firm -- has also recently fired two employees for sexual misconduct at the workplace. It wouldn't be right for Liberty Mutual to say, "We're not having the company Christmas Party, because Christmas parties is what got us into this mess in the first place," or "We're not going to participate in social out reach because social out reach has made us look like hypocrites with these sexual assaults." No, because it's not The Christmas Party or the Social outreach program that's causing the problem: It's bad, hurtful, or illegal decisions made by you or by some former staff members.

You've always had a reputation for making brash decisions, and most of these have not faired well for you. Poorly thought out statements about Amir0x that bent the truth, came too late, and just weren't handled correctly; decisions to ban certain topics from being discussed; decisions to ban certain members or former staff, and scores of others. This, though, is clearly the worst decision and it shows in inability to accept fault. This decisions seems to simply be another projection: "I've made bad decisions in my life and business, and so the business must be punished." That doesn't make any sense, it's selfish and delusional.

You have an opportunity to make the right decision. Obviously you feel like this site is your baby and "it's your's," but this business exists in spite of you, not because of you. It can be hard for a CEO or business owner to give up something that they think is theirs, many CEOs resist this and are befuddled when their board ousts them for a business that they themselves launched. The right thing for you to do would have been to announce that you're taking an indefinite leave of absence from NeoGaf. Revenue from the site would be put into an escrow account to cover expenses and hire staff who would manage it in your absence. A board of staff (moderators, admins) would be formed to hire staff who would manage the site and support the community. Those would be base level decisions which would ensure, at least, some integrity with the site which would keep at least some members around. The site would persist and could possibly bounce back, ultimately you wouldn't be punishing your customers or your business for your own bad decision. Instead, you made the wrong decision with how this was handled and then continually made the wrong decision with how you're going to move forward with this, instead of holding yourself accountable, you're punishing the community that has made your business successful.

It shows an utter lack of self-awareness which then also undermines any integrity that you're trying to preserve against allegations like the ones you're facing.

super on point, and well put.

 

[Jordan117]

This may have been a little too subtle.

 

[MrToast]

https://waypoint.vice.com/en_us/article/qv384d/inside-the-sexual-misconduct-allegations-rocking-neogafs-last-48-hoursd

Hell, there’s another fucking thread on this.

http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=1452363&page=1

I've seen the thread, but again another forum isn't exactly credible, more like a gossip corner.

 

[ido]

the entire OT seems extremely personal and not really any of my business.

is there a betting line on how many days until people stop asking to be banned.

 

[kinoki]

The story itself of the sexual misconduct is really nothing I should be commenting on. The whole reason I haven’t added more support to the #metoo movement is because I know how subjectively gray the entire word-against-word can be. I know this because I ended up as a witness where both sides tried to convince me they were right. There are people closer to this that are actually involved in this.

With that said I’d also address the closing down of the OT. While I’m not supporting it as a good idea I do think the reasoning behind it bears merit. I’ve found political discourse on any Internet forum to be nigh impossible. For every “fuck Trump” we harm the discourse. We live in a very divisive time and there are people out there who actively work to make the world more divided. I don’t have a good solution for this, just that I don’t think closing political discussions is a good idea.

Anyway, I’m glad that Evilore has finally brought forth a statement. I’m glad that we’re back online. I’m sure there is a healing phase so let’s start slow.

 

[Dimitri LH]

While I understand why giving mods invinsability (cant think of a better word atm) is for their protection, I don't think its the best way to handle it. Just my 2 cents, im just glad GAF is back, sad about all the good people leaving though.

 

[AndrewDean84xX]

Guys, go to DayOnePatch Boards. Older posters, people that have been gaming for generations and who's first console was before the PS2.

http://www.dayonepatch.com/index.php?/forum/19-general-video-gaming/

The guys in charge there don't sexual harass sick women in bathrooms and try to cover up past sexual assault aligations.

 

[Neece]

I’d like the people who agree with the OT changes to explain how one could dissect and talk about the new South Park season, for example, if politics and social issues are not allowed in discourse.

It seems unenforceable and stupid.

 

[HowZatOZ]

So this is my take on the response and the current state of NeoGAF: a load of bullshit hypocrisy. First of, the community is well and truly split by now with no going back to "the good ol' days" like it was pre-happening. No matter how much preaching Tyler gives of how he has learnt what the cause was (hint: it was your fucking attitude towards women dipshit) and that there are no fixes in place for that not to happen the community has suffered because of this regular sweeping-under-the-rug attitude that NeoGAF moderators and staff have become accustomed to over the recent years. Namely the fact that I didn't discover Amir0x was a fucking child pedophile until this shitstorm with Tyler came out into the open. How the fuck that got swept under and no one truly discussed it just shows how fucked up Tyler's vision of NeoGAF is, in that wanting a close-minded community isn't the way to go, especially now with the removal of Off-Topic as if it was some collaboration to the destruction of the community.

Secondly, the void that the moderation team has left will not be filled. No one wants to moderate for a community now filled with the existing idea that Tyler is sexual predator who has had previous "accusations" (even though he right out admitted to grabbing the ass of a lady to assert his dominance) and why would they. Alongside this the idea of moderating more heavily is absolutely mind boggling when you have sites like Slaent doing just fine with enabling discussion and having a quite open way to access the forums. The efforts of ResetEra show this even more with the notion to lock down their forums tight, all in the name of reducing alt-right commentators even though it doesn't do that but just entices them more to infiltrate and cause havoc. Reducing availability of information is ridiculous. It serves no one's purpose but the dictator at hand (Tyler and those left on the moderation staff) to enable their views to be the only truth, which now has come to light is so opposite of what the community thought they standed for that it's now ironically laughable.

So really, at the end of the day Tyler has fucked up massively, is a gigantic ironic cunt bag (and not the good Aussie cunt) and the site is now fucked. There is no one to blame, no GamerGate, no nazis, no alt-right idiots. It's you, Tyler. You are to blame.

 

[Voke]

Thanks to the wonderfully entertaining members of gaf that always had me hyped to the roof for video games since I was lurking in the 3rd grade. It’s been 11 years of fun in a hobby we love dearly. To all the other extra political alt this alt that it’s all bullshit. That’s what ruined GAF, shame on anyone that pushed us that way. We’re all people who love to sit and play video games and talk about the industry, and that’s what matters.

As to the admin, you had a incrediblly large, brilliant, active, dedicated community you were responsible of. You were the leader and you should act such instead of bringing all of gaf into your pit of hell.

You look pathetic.

 

[Mahadev]

What is this Resetera I keep seeing people talk about?

A craphole that will be even more one-sided and authoritarian than neogaf Off-topic was.

 

[ZeoVGM]

Glad things are back up.
Hope you're doing OK, Tyler.
Please don't let the inmates run the asylum anymore...
This place is wonderful for video games, not outrage culture and identity politics...

Considering your post history, I wouldn't be surprised if your support alone makes Tyler doubt his decision.

 

[remist]

All those declaring that they will wait for the facts should at least do some research and realize there is a pattern of behavior that goes beyond the most recent allegation.

Even if we limit it what he has explicitly admitted , Tyler has:

Spread nude photos of a woman without her consent.

Groped a woman's ass without explicit consent after buying her a drink because he didn't want to look like a "mark". He then proceeded to ban anyone critical of him and nuke all evidence of the event from this forum.

He recently went on a banning spree hitting long standing members for being too insistent that we believe victims and called their behavior witch hunting.

Please do some research and realize that this isn't a first time thing and there is a pattern.

 

[whytemyke]

Just a suggestion
But instead of killing political stuff entirely, why not have it as a sub forum like how OT is?

This is actually a very solid idea. OT can have two sub-forums-- OT Community and OT Politics.

No idea whatsoever on how to moderate the political stuff though.

 

[KanameYuuki]

"I disagree therefore Trump supporter"

Thanks a lot for making it worse for people like us who want the whole Off-topic back.

You should actually be grateful for this kind of comments, that way we know who is an unnecessary / unwanted extremist on the left or right for when OT comes back.

 

[JayBabay]

Fuck that I can't wait till the pruning of these /pol moonlighter begins and Off Topic returns.


Gaf was never a democracy but people take free speech to extremes where it does not apply.

Every other large political forum besides neogaf had members who racial slurs and rape jokes ad naseum. It says a lot that off topic didn't devolve onto /pol with edgy man children injecting Hitler did nothing wrong into random threads for the meme lulz. Those kind of people HATE gaf because that shit never flew here.

I am really looking forward to not having to read anymore salty alt right 4chan alumni butthurt that gaf isn't dead and

Dude, I can’t stand 10 seconds in 4 Chan anything - that shit drives me nuts without it’s moderating. But the same way you see those racist slurs over and over (I’m middle eastern, Ive seen them casually asking how do we deport all of ______?” or constantly comparing us to unfavorable things. Like wtf these people are crazy but all I can do is laugh because they are ignorant), it’s also annoying hearing people get called a Nazi and a sexist non fucking stop dude and the blanket statement encompassing everyone with these extreme terms who doesn’t align 100% with these (realistically, at times, overboard) views isn’t enjoyable to see either.

 

[Wamb0wneD]

It isn't safe here. Be safe. Leave.

What? Huh? The drama seems to have clouded some minds.

 

[Ombra]

it never will

gaf will always be a place where racial minorities, women, and the lgbt community have their humanity protected

if this bothers you i suggest you find another place to post

Whoa..ether.
I hope these people take your advice.

 

[Striek]

I hope for the sake of a lot of good memories the site can recover from this. A lot of good names and people have left/are leaving, but the way they are choosing to do so is disappointing.

It isn't surprising since the moderation team incubated a type of extreme hostile leftism that centre their identities around over-reaction and drama, meanwhile the alt-right, opa-age, KotakuInAction, -permabanned, but keep making accounts - fuckwits are fanning the flames from all directions because this is catharsis for lives lived with impotent rage.

If the site doesn't make it through, ah well, its been fun.

 

[Yukinari]

A craphole that will be even more one-sided and authoritarian than neogaf Off-topic was.

The garbage from off topic creeped into the gaming side as well and it took all the mods leaving for anybody to finally speak their mind about it.

 

[RawkHawk2010]

No one has explained why this or any other forum needs an Off-Topic. Kanzenshuu comes to mind as a forum that doesn't have one and it seems better off for it.

 

[Brazil]

The masks surely are falling off. How did all of these garbage human beings manage to hold on to their true feelings for so long?

This place will just become another manbaby-filled alt-right hell like all of the others now. Good riddance.

 

[spineduke]

a lot of victim blaming going on here - real classy in here, seems like just the community you wanna foster. so long, schmucks.

 

[Anung]

Closing OT was short sighted in my opinion. I hope everyone who ever posted in Mental Health GAF stays safe.

 

[Lindsay]

Still can't believe I gotta get serious an on gaf of all places. C'mon! The internets supposed ta be an escape from "srs bzns" ya know!


Evilore: whether you're a scumbag or not (for this or any other reason) right or wrong you're now a liability on this community ya fostered an supposedly care for. Hope ya understand that. Doing so's a good first step. Dunno what the next one is but its hopefully in the communitys best interest.

 

[AdaWong]

Dear mods: I got demoted to junior member because I made a thread about Chloe Frazer being the best character of 2017. I promise you my intention was completely pure as I was trying to at least involve some actual video game discussion into the board as it is being completely flooded by other unneeded threads.. May I get my Member status back? Thanks.

 

[Sibylus]

Against a woman who didn't want to name her accoster initially, I, for one, choose to believe the creepy website landlord who couldn't even be truthful about his friendship with the pedophile ex-mod. He's an honest chap.

 

[Saganator]

At some point we gotta stop crucifying people for past mistakes. That's one of the reasons you aren't going to get good honest people in politics, they don't want any dumb shit from their past dug up and thrown at them or used to misconstrue who they are now.

People were angry about the sexual abuse allegations. People are leaving because of how he's handled it. His mistake happened on Saturday night when he didn't just own up to being a drunk horny dipshit and saying sorry. He instead called her a psycho pretty much.

 

[2blackcats]

it never will

gaf will always be a place where racial minorities, women, and the lgbt community have their humanity protected

if this bothers you i suggest you find another place to post

This has always been my favourite thing about the site.

 

[Wamb0wneD]

Seriously, ban all these lame ass male feminists.

I would call myself a feminist who happens to be male. I don't get your point.

 

[Hoffelcopter]

If this place can move past the leftist bullshit this forum could be awesome again

Not getting my hopes up

Outside of the OP this the cringiest and dumbest thing I've seen in this whole thread.

 

[Nights Owl]

Because its the attitude myself and many others got when games featuring Jontron were talked about.

So in return i have to just assume anybody buying into evilore's bullshit must also support harassment. Thats how this forum worked for as long as ive been here.

Doesnt feel good does it?

No. It doesn't. But you have to realize not everyone is like that or said those same things. And for what it's worth, I don't agree with people acting that way either.

 

[ramuh]

Closing OT was short sighted in my opinion. I hope everyone who ever posted in Mental Health GAF stays safe.

Probably the saddest loss of the OT.

 

[AtomicShroom]

This whole ordeal reminds me so much of this:

Welcome to the NeoGAF lynch mob, where you are guilty until proven innocent, where relationships between humans are pure black and white and can never be ambiguous or misread, and where backing off when asked is akin to full-on rape.

Okay.

 

[-Mutsukki-]

it never will

gaf will always be a place where racial minorities, women, and the lgbt community have their humanity protected

if this bothers you i suggest you find another place to post

it's weird that you yourself perceived that as leftist bullshit as it should be the goal of any self respecting person, they could be talking about a myriad of issues but you chose to single those out.

 

[RiZ III]

They choose to die on the tiniest hill known to man. Humans just like a bit of drama.

All this over the recent allegations? C'mon bruh, people already disliked Evilore for other reasons but at this point they are just joining in on the mass hysteria because it might feel amusing, and then if/when that replacement website doesn't take off they will regret it.

Well said. I felt the same way but you but it better than I could.

 

[CLEEK]

Same. Labeling people as sexist or some kind of Progressive traitor for merely criticizing Hillary Clinton was not exactly uncommon and it was emblematic of the kind of atmosphere that developed over the last few years or so here. Discourse had definitely become toxic and extremely unwelcoming to those whose views didn't exactly conform to an insanely narrow and narrow-minded idea of what progressivism and "the left" should be. Purity tests indeed. Progressive critical thinking is great. 'Poligaf' definitely went up its own ass though.

I can fully understand (and support) why GAF positioned itself clearly and hard on the opposing side to Gamergate. But over time, and especially during the election cycle, this went from removing toxic individuals to banning anyone with an option that deviated from the ideological purity test of OT power user and certain mods. The nadir was certainly related to Hillary after she's won the Primaries. If you said or thought anything negative about the woman, you were automatically a pro-Trump, misogynist, racist, Alt-Right, Gamergater Nazi.

GAF without OT or without political discussion is a good idea. You can't have political discussion if you take a harsh stance against all but a narrow idealogical viewpoint. It just leads to an every narrowing and ever more hostile echo chamber, which 2016-2017 GAF certainly had become whenever topics turned to politics.

 

[synce]

Good riddance to all the people throwing a fit and leaving, taking a random online post by an ex as fact. If this is where society is heading then I'm scared.

 

[Memento]

What is sad is the end result will be so much worse than the events that spawned it. I see the re-opening of this forum as validation for some pretty repugnant viewpoints/behavior of a good portion of the "gamer" community.

This.

I am already seeing it in this thread and it makes me fell like I am on any other gaming forum in the internet. So freaking sad.

 

[pixelation]

The masks surely are falling off. How did all of these garbage human beings manage to hold on to their true feelings for so long?

This place will just become another manbaby-filled alt-right hell like all of the others now. Good riddance.

I know right?, that's what i am seeing.

 

[Kacho]

it never will

gaf will always be a place where racial minorities, women, and the lgbt community have their humanity protected

if this bothers you i suggest you find another place to post

Actually what I'm saying is this place would be better without people like you who instantly label and dismiss anyone who doesn't fall in line with your bullshit.

 

[N30RYU]

Ban everything not gamming related.

I will give NeoGAF this week to settle down to return to it... and if the comunity is indeed migrating I'll migrate too.

The site may be ruled by one man but is the comunity who ruled and keeped alive this forum feeding it with OT, news and impressions.

NeoGAF is/was an endless gamming keynote to me where you could find any new news gamming related around the world in a matter of seconds thanks to its users... and if this users are migrating there could be nothing left here for me... that's why I will wait this week.

 

[QuixoticNeutral]

The way this is all being handled is inexcusably bad, it's just a master class in bad executive decisions. There isn't much community left here, but removing the Off Topic forum because the owner of the website allegedly did something disgusting several years ago -- and was identifies -- is punishing the community for disgusting decisions that the owner of the website made.

This hit the nail on the head. I never gave a damn about Off-Topic and largely stayed clear of the heated/politicized drama threads in gaming side, so you'd think I'd be one of the first to celebrate the thinning out of the forum to cater to my tastes. But instead, what the mishandling of this mess through the whole weekend showed me was that at any arbitrary point in time, those of us who just want to be here to talk about games can take an unannounced hit for some stupid private thing up at management that we didn't ask for and don't want anything to do with whatsoever. That's not a stable state of affairs. And while one of the great assets of GAF was always its institutional independence on the ownership side as a one-man show that couldn't be bought, the constantly hanging threat of losing entire communities overnight for absolutely nothing to do with us, and something totally out of our responsibility or control, just isn't a price worth paying.

It's not even about the allegations or conduct or harassment. It's about the breach of trust with the users who supply all the content to make this site what it is. And that has been an ongoing pattern.

 

[Aeriscloud]

it never will

gaf will always be a place where racial minorities, women, and the lgbt community have their humanity protected

if this bothers you i suggest you find another place to post

Isn't that likely over though?

 

[Dehumanizer]

GAF will die without Off Topic. I bet you are a Trump supporter.

See how you've jumped to wrong conclusions just because I've said it was toxic? Just proved my point.

 

[Wamb0wneD]

Well, those are all just allegations.

In most countries on this planet, people are innocent until proven guilty. Meaning by a court, not by public emotional reactions.

Even if you think we have the right to be judge, jury and executioner, then at least we have to prove his guilt. Innocent until proven guilty is an ethical stance, not only a legal one. If we don't know all the facts then we can't (shouldn't) pass judgements.

It's digusting how we let emotions take control of us like this and we start judging so quickly before we know the actual factual truth.

Also, on a seperate note, this sounds odd to me:

According to Kotaku, the accuser was so traumatized that not only has she "continued her friendship" with him...but also "had a brief physical relationship with Malka until they had a falling out at E3 2015."

Yeah, sounds like an extremely traumatic experience indeed.

Another human being that makes sense. Thank you.

 

[ShironRedshift]

In a lot of ways, that's a good thing. No, not every way. But sometimes you have to cut off the finger to save the hand.

Some of you guys are ridiculous. I never thought I'd be defending Evilore. You might say the monster he created has turned on him.

The problem is the reason it's being done and the timing. Why is it being done now? Why not before if it was so bad? Why do it in the midst of a huge scandal instead? What's the connection or relevance? It makes absolutely no sense to do it now.

And ultimately, Tyler can try to shift the blame onto the mods or whatever, but he could have overruled them at any point and just gotten rid of the OT at any point or banned political discussions or whatever at any time if he wanted them gone and truly felt that way. But he didn't. He never did that, or ever gave so much as the slightest hint that he was ever even considering such a thing. No warnings or hints or anything. If he truly felt it was so bad then why? Why is that the case exactly?

Why is this all suddenly coming out now, in the midst of these scandals or whatever when there was no hint of such a thing before?

Tyler had the power to do this at any point. But he didn't. In fact, on the contrary. He changed GAF's logo for a period of time to celebrate the Obergefell v Hodges decision of the United States Supreme Court in 2015. He never gave any hint it was a problem whatsoever.

If the OT really was so terrible, that happened under Tyler's watch. He could have ditched the mod-team or the OT itself or whatever ages ago. But he didn't. He didn't do anything of the sort or even given the slightest hint he was considering it. So if you truly feel the OT was terrible, does that not ultimately rest on Tyler's shoulders as well? And if he let something get "that bad" in the past, how can you possibly trust he won't do the same in the future?

Since he could have done something at any point. At any time. But did nothing. Not until this scandal broke out anyway. Why is this suddenly the time to ditch the OT completely, when it never was before. If that really was what any of this was about, he had all the time in the world to do it. But never did, or give any warnings or hints to that notion or anything. He just let it happen. Until it was suddenly convenient to get rid of it, apparently.

How can you trust the judgment of such a man? Who apparently felt the OT was trash for a while now and did absolutely nothing about it, and just let it stay like that, until it was convenient to get rid of it? Especially since what assurance does that give that the same won't happen in the future--that he won't just bottle something like that up again, until it all overflows at once again? Does that make any sense to you? Because it doesn't to me.

TL;DR: If the OT was really an infested finger of the hand or whatever, why was it not severed until now? When Tyler had full ability to do so? Instead, just watching and letting it "burn" and become what it was, with no indication, for day after day, week after week, month after month, that anything was amiss and thus by all signs that he was perfectly alright with the situation? How can you possibly trust him now, when he did nothing all those months, despite apparently feeling that it was terrible for at least that long?

Why instead, only get rid of it now, in the midst of a scandal, when he had every chance in the world to get rid of it beforehand? Would he have not done it had none of this gotten out? Why not do anything before now if that's how he really felt about it? Why only do things now, with everything else that's going on of all times, instead of say right after the US elections ended or whatever?

None of this makes any sense whatsoever to me. None.

SUPER TL;DR: Apparently Tyler wasn't on your side with the OT being completely terrible until just now. So why believe him that he suddenly recognizes the "problem" when it's suddenly convenient for him, when he never had before and let it get that bad in the first place? Does that really sound like someone you want to trust to you? Because it doesn't to me.

 

[StoneFox]

I have a feeling this is going to fall onto totally deaf ears, but these are my thoughts on what needs to happen to this place going forward. I'm completely staying away from the human side of this situation, and simply talking about the forum itself.

There needs to be way more transparency, and way more communication. There needs to be an official stickies thread for questions/comments/complaints about the board, and there needed to be one years ago. If pride needs to be swallowed, then swallow it. There's been too much silencing of people's attempts to try to talk about what's going on around here, and this should be a simple concept, but the opinions of the customers should actually be listened to. Make one centralized thread for it, and don't punish people for saying things the management might not want to hear.

The community has to be welcoming to everyone outside of the extreme elements. Yes, that means conservatives, and republicans, and Trump supporters, and so on. I've seen tons of comments about how people love(d) GAF for being welcoming to women and minorities—and that's been a very important thing that shouldn't ever be given up. However, it can be welcoming to everyone else as well (again, outside of the extreme). The rule should be that people should be civil to one another, and if they are, then let them be here. It got to a point where conversations became the enemy here, and then not so long ago it became that moderates were the new enemy, and promised to soon be that the "not left enough" would be the new enemy. Stop letting any particular groups dictate the conversation on here, and stop the dog piling that occurs due to "wrongthink". Also, no more protected members. It's been clear that certain posters have been "favorites" of the mods and been allowed to get away with a whole lot more than other users could. Cut that shit out.

Cut it out with the passive aggressive mods. Stop with the shit user tags, stop with the smarmy ban messages. It got to the point where mods because like emperors flaunting their power from high above the peons, and that's unacceptable. However, shadow mods are not the answer. Modbot is bullshit, and threads should never be closed with smart quips from a faceless entity. If Modbot needs to be used, then have the balls to sign the name of who used it in that instance. Also, mods should not be decided when the conversation in a thread is "done" outside of obvious circumstances. Tons of great discussions in threads have been prematurely killed just because some mod didn't personally find it worthwhile. And for god's sake, don't allow any more deification of mods—a situation like Bish should never, ever happen again.

Have a clear and fleshed out list of rules, and if someone does something that's not on the rules list, don't ban them for it. That's bullshit. It's been impossible at times to know what would and wouldn't get you banned around here unless you happened to see a thread where a new rule was announced. And, again, ban messages should actually be clear about why the person was banned and what they did wrong, and not the chance for a mod to act like they're an action hero using a one-liner before taking out a bad guy.

Make the forums fun again. Have clear differences in expectations between official threads and casual ones. I totally think that OTs should be free from derailment and (unjustified) nonsense and trolling and all of that, but easy up a little bit in other threads. Let people be silly sometimes. Let the jokes happen, and require that people not be so thin-skinned that even the most innocent of joking around is blow up into some offense. Bring back those couple of smilies that existed years ago. Let threads like "Hot Men/Women" exist again so long as boundaries aren't pushed too far. Don't just paint over the entire forum with the exact same expectations for every single thread. And make "if you don't like the thread, don't read it" an expected part of using GAF. Having certain people shit up threads just because they don't like the subject has gotten out of control. Every thread doesn't have to be for everyone.

Speaking on that, keep politics out of most threads. Allow for threads to specifically focus on and discuss the politics of games or developers or publishers or genres or whatever—that should absolutely exist—but keep the politics out of threads where they don't belong. I understand people might not like the dev/narrative behind The Last Night or the fact that JonTron was in Hat in Time, but that conversation has no place in most threads about both of those games.

Getting rid of Off Topic is messy. At the very least, it should exist but be locked from any further posting. There's a lot lot of threads in there that were important to a lot of people, and just taking that all away from everyone isn't the right thing to do. Also, the policy of completely scrubbing certain conversations or topics instead of dealing with them head-on is something that absolutely needs to stop, but I have zero faith ever would.

Finally, banning anyone today other than those who directly ask to be permabanned is really, really not a good look. If NeoGAF is to survive, it'll settle down–but the venting that's happening today needs to happen, and needs to be allowed.

Those are my thoughts as someone who isn't sure if this is a place I can still support or not. But—again, personal human aspects aside—I think there is a chance to put changes in place that can make this place change for the better going forward for those who do stick around, and those who join in the coming days.

This is a good post. I especially like the bolded.

 

[Sibylus]

And lest we forget, said landlord also literally went with the "bitch is crazy" defense, like every rapist and abuser that ever spoke to defend himself.