A thank you of sorts

[Enchantra]

I've been around these forums for a while now, mostly in lurk mode for the past year since I've had other things I have needed to address. I have hopefully returned for a while and have found these boards to be the same friendly boards I had to leave for a bit. Thank you for being a great forum to come back to time and again.

 

One of my reasons for not being around much was that last summer I became a Moderator over on the Bonsaisite forums, which is a site devoted to the art of bonsai and learning how to do the artform. The forum is set up like this one with the same format and has very close to 6000 members. It was sucking up my time because for a good five months I was the only moderator aside from the admin. Only through four months of begging did I get a second Moderator. The admin works an odd shift and lives in Australia, which meant I had to tackle a lot of stuff alone without his help because he was rarely logged in and finishing his MD residency. A few months ago me and the second Mod began to pressure the admin for a third Mod from someplace outside the US so that the new mod could cover things on the board while we were asleep. He finally granted us a new mod a week ago. I can finally breathe again - somewhat.

 

Something I noticed is that here, Kit is very quick about taking care of things, banning spammers and their related ilk, and nipping harrassment in the bud before it's a problem. Over on Bonsaisite it seems quite the opposite. The admin there won't ban people who harass others or it takes him days to ban a spammer. Case in point -I had one guy sexually harrassing me via PM there. I was highly irritated the admin didn't ban this guy. All he did was let him off with a warning and that was it. Another guy recently began to harass and threaten me via PM, and even though I forwarded all the correspondence to the other Mod and the admin, while the other Mod felt this guy should be banned, the admin didn't think it necessary and let the creep off with a warning. Kit, I sincerely want to thank you for keeping this forum free of this sort of thing.

 

The other difference to note is overall attitude. Here people are having fun, playing nice 99% of the time and when giving criticism or other advice are careful to do it constructively(usually). Here people don't seem to have huge ego issues either. All this is the opposite over there. I've lost track of the number of PM's I've received there because so called "constructive criticism" Got out of hand and they needed me to intervene. There are several members there who have been doing bonsai many years who honestly seem to think they know it all and heaven forbid someone correct them on something if they happen to be incorrect, or give them a suggestion on how to style a tree better. It's like a huge blow to their ego to have a different path given to them on styling a tree. It's nice to note I don't see this kind of attitude as much here on Reaper, and it's refreshing.

 

Every forum has their trolls and troglodytes. However I have noticed this forum seems to have less than where I moderate. We have a few members over there who are constantly posting garbage to try to stir up trouble. They don't post anything helpful and their comments tend to be highly corrosive to the point of being offensive. It keeps me and the other two mods busy now watching their postings and having to edit out offensive language or whole sentences meant to inflame. Again the admin won't ban these members because he feels they haven't done anything to be banned, and honestly the other two mods wish he would ban them. The one troll thought he was being funny and posted an anime cartoon of a baby being shook! I edited out the link and sent a message off to the other mod and the admin. The admin still wouldn't do anything - he didn't even drop the troll a PM to tell him to knock it off.

 

Then there was the hacker incident where some mindless troll hacked the forum and used the forum email system to send a virus to everyone's email account. While I did not open the email and deleted it, several forum members there did open it and next thing I knew I was getting screamed at about the problem. There wasn't a bloody thing I could do about the problem except email the admin, who after three days of this mess finally shut down the forum and repaired it.

 

With all the above going on there have been a handfull of times I have almost resigned my mod position and left that board completely, but what keeps me from doing so is the occasional PM from another member who sincerely thanks me for my time and thanks me for my help. I guess what little appreciation I get there is what keeps me going back there.

 

Thank you to all of you who make this such a great board to come to. Thanks to Kit who does an amazing job with this board and thanks to you other mods here for what you do. It's nice to come to a board where its relatively peaceful.

 

Other things have kept me away as well. Back in March on his Birthday my Father tried to kill himself. Thankfully he realized he needed help and called Mom at work and she got an ambulance here ASAP. I was stuck at work because the only way for three licensed drivers to share two cars is for one to be dropped off at work, and that meant me. Since March my energy has had to be refocused on making sure Dad remembers his Doctor's appointments and keeping an eye on his behavior - which at times is a bit eratic. Dad's memory has gone downhill even more than it was before the incident, and this isn't helping matters any.

 

Add into all this I now work two jobs, around 55 hours a week. My time for my hobbies has been decreased exponentially, and that includes my mini painting time. I have not done SERIOUS mini painting since R-con 2006. I've done some painting, but not enough to really keep my grove going.

 

So yeah...that's why my time here has been VERY sporadic the past year. I think I'm starting to ramble since I've been up since 3AM for work, so I'll end this now.

[slidedog]

Couldn't agree more! This is a place of reasonable people and excellent administration. Even over in Beekeepers there may be serious disagreements but they are always kept civil, which keeps it fun. I can agree to disagree on a lot of things and hearing other reasonable point of view is valuable. Keep up the great work Reaper peeps!

[wyrmgear]

Being an introvert of the semi-classical variety (parents hated me [they told me so], picked-on all the way through school, being incredibly naive at the best of times; you get the idea) I have pretty much avoided forums. One or two I joined in the past left me less than comfortable and seldom lasted.

 

I joined this forum to lurk-and-learn, however the friendly nature of the members, and honest, constructive criticism lured me into posting replies and pleas for help.

 

I cannot say how long I will stick with the forum, as my interest in minis has waxed and waned over the years, but I truly feel comfortable here. Thanks to everyone for that!

 

I must also say thanks to all who make this forum possible, something I have taken for granted...

[Versutus Vulpes]

Ditto kids.

 

I have actually found that this board has dramatically increased my interest in mini's... and gasp - the thought of breaking out dice again... shudder... But it goes to the credit of Kit and the Mods that this place is so nice to be part of... The marketing hack in me says - "see - good business sense" - but the guy who sits painting in his spare time just likes to see the pics and help when he can - and asks for help as well - the rest just happens.

 

Enchantra - sorry to hear about your dad... I hope things settle down for you...

[Enchantra]

Enchantra - sorry to hear about your dad... I hope things settle down for you...

 

Don't know how that comment missed me before. Dad is doing better with help. Things are looking brighter and hopefully will continue to do so. I could use a break and so could he and Mom.

 

As for this board, the sharing of information here always amazes me. People are so willing to say, "Yeah here's how I do this.." or, "Here's where you can find this and this.."