Off Topic

[Shrooblord]

I get the feeling we got to a misunderstanding due to cultural differences. I'll lay that aside; I feel like we're getting to that point where we're basically unintentionally insulting each other.

Point of my comments being: if you wanna be a good mod, be a good member first.

[saerleiya]

I get the feeling we got to a misunderstanding due to cultural differences. I'll lay that aside; I feel like we're getting to that point where we're basically unintentionally insulting each other.

Huh, that's strange, I didn't have this feeling .

[Shrooblord]

No but you're not the one involved in an argument with Rayfist over something as absolutely trivial as a misinterpretation of words.

[Rayfist]

an argument with Rayfist over something as absolutely trivial as a misinterpretation of words.

How is that arguing? I made a joke post about brownie points basically saying what you said in your huge speech, you gave us a lecture towards my joke, me and Ad pointed out that was really weird and out of nowhere. End of story.

[Adsolution]

I get the feeling we got to a misunderstanding due to cultural differences.

Not so sure about that, hm.

[Bradandez]

Point of my comments being: if you wanna be a good mod, be a good member first.

Yeah, I want to be a Mod and I'll be more of a good member than ever before!
#BradforMod #Voteformeyoufuckers

[Xenon]

I feel like I'm going to get anally raped for this, but a minor quibble I have is that I feel as though the attitudes toward newcomers are a bit too...harsh. I remember when I came here, and was completely new to general forum culture, when I said "the wrong things," per se, I was met with not-so-friendly (albeit admittedly understandable) responses, which made me feel somewhat apprehensive and nervous when I posted here. While I feel these sorts of responses would be totally fine towards members that have been here a while and know the forum fairly well, I think that the mod team and members in general should be a bit more lax and/or word stuff a bit more nicely towards newcomers, because, let's face it, they're clueless.

It's actually pretty interesting to consider this. Personally I think expectation of newcomers has changed quite considerably in the last five or so years. In the early days of this forum, pretty much anyone would be welcomed with open arms and spoken to like a customer, simply because it was nice to have another person on board, posting and contributing. Nowadays, the forum is pretty much self-sufficient and actually requires very very little management indeed, so the community can afford to be more choosy with regards to what kind of conduct it demands from new members.

Slightly related, I have a policy when it comes to treating people online. If I believe someone is mature enough and confident enough to take criticism then I'd be less friendly and more aggressive with that person. If, on the other hand, I don't believe a person can take criticism well, I'd perhaps be nicer. It may be the same with other members here. You seem like a well-spoken, reasonable person, so perhaps that, in conjunction with what I said above, explains your bad experience with Ad and others on here. Just a theory I suppose.

[Adsolution]

I'd concur with that policy, though I'd never really put it into words.

[rolesfamily]

I have a problem agreeing with that It gives the mods far too much credit for actually reading into a new members personality & traits. That's far too much interpretation. Especially if they're new, you're never going to be able to gauge how well they take the criticism till it's dished out.

[Master]

Meh, I try to err on the side of being reasonably nice, though I feel I've been getting snappier as time has gone on.

[Xenon]

I have a problem agreeing with that It gives the mods far too much credit for actually reading into a new members personality & traits. That's far too much interpretation. Especially if they're new, you're never going to be able to gauge how well they take the criticism till it's dished out.

You can tell a lot from the way in which someone posts, I think. I'm not saying I or anyone else can know a member's personality or lifestyle from their posts, but it's usually easy to predict whether they are going to reply in a sensible way or get butthurt when faced with criticism, so to speak.

[Adsolution]

Meh, I try to err on the side of being reasonably nice, though I feel I've been getting snappier as time has gone on.

In a good way though, I think.

[technology4617]

I have a problem agreeing with that It gives the mods far too much credit for actually reading into a new members personality & traits. That's far too much interpretation. Especially if they're new, you're never going to be able to gauge how well they take the criticism till it's dished out.

Eh, I agree with Xenon. Any judgement of a person, whether online of off, is going to be based on your own personal experience with them, and you typically don't have to get to know someone all that well to get a rough idea of what kind of people they are.

Slightly related, I have a policy when it comes to treating people online. If I believe someone is mature enough and confident enough to take criticism then I'd be less friendly and more aggressive with that person. If, on the other hand, I don't believe a person can take criticism well, I'd perhaps be nicer. It may be the same with other members here. You seem like a well-spoken, reasonable person, so perhaps that, in conjunction with what I said above, explains your bad experience with Ad and others on here. Just a theory I suppose.

Hm, I have sort of the opposite approach, which, now that I think about it, might not be an excellent approach, where I aim to be nicer towards those who seem like decent people, and more rough with those who I deem to be basically hopeless, but what you described might be a tad more logical/constructive.

You seem like a well-spoken, reasonable person, so perhaps that, in conjunction with what I said above, explains your bad experience with Ad and others on here. Just a theory I suppose.

Ah, thanks. Hm, I suppose that's a possibility, and might explain the observation I had, but, eh, it was just a thought and I was interested in what people would think.

Meh, I try to err on the side of being reasonably nice, though I feel I've been getting snappier as time has gone on.

In a good way though, I think.

Agreed. You still come across as a perfectly nice guy, just a bit more confident.

[Rayfist]

Man thank god majority of you guys don't remember me when I first joined the forums, I deserved every ounce of hate from the mods/members, I was incredibly naive, really wish I could erase that part of my life.

[Shrooblord]

I get the feeling we got to a misunderstanding due to cultural differences.

Not so sure about that, hm.

I get the feeling that people from overseas and I have a tendency to talk straight passed each other, completely missing each others' points. I'm going to accredit that to cultural separation, but call it whatever you like.

How is that arguing? I made a joke post about brownie points basically saying what you said in your huge speech, you gave us a lecture towards my joke, me and Ad pointed out that was really weird and out of nowhere. End of story.

The fact that you have to say 'end of story' makes it feel very much like an argument to me. Enough of this. I don't feel like talking about it anymore. It's making me feel incredibly uncomfortable that I was trying to talk about the general way one should perceive our community and its mods, inspired by what you wrote, and instead it got received as a direct criticism to what you wrote, all because I felt that when it comes to the phrasing 'brownie points with the higher-ups' it feels like you mean 'sucking up to them to make yourself look good' as opposed to 'appearing good because you are good', even though the latter is exactly what you implied. I misunderstood. I apologise.

It's obvious what I'm trying to convey; to be eligible for moderator privileges, you should be apt in nature, not in act. I'm sorry it got so out of hand and my post was received as a lecture. I write long posts. I enjoy writing long posts. Make of that what you will.

[Rayfist]

The fact that you have to say 'end of story' makes it feel very much like an argument to me. Enough of this.

Dude. Relax, just because I say "end of story" doesn't mean I'm trying to be harsh, it's just the way I talk. I hadn't a clue you were acknowledging my post but I was rather taking it as if you're trying to be a higher up and that kind of threw me off a bit. I think you could've done a better job at explaining don't you think? We get the message, but the message wasn't needed, we know what you mean, it was common sense.

'brownie points with the higher-ups' it feels like you mean 'sucking up to them to make yourself look good' as opposed to 'appearing good because you are good'

I've mentioned this was a joke twice now, I wasn't serious at all. I was only putting in a jokingly way "You should get the mod's respect if you wish to be a mod by being a good person.", I thought the "brownie points" would've given that away that was a joke and not ment to be taken seriously.

even though the latter is exactly what you implied. I misunderstood. I apologise.

It's fine, relax. Just think next time because the way you typed that made me feel you were putting yourself superior towards me and that made me feel a bit odd.

What you view as an argument I'm simply viewing as a normal conversation, there's really nothing to be upset over. Me and Ad were just pointing out that what you said felt a little odd and unreasonable.

[saerleiya]

I actually told myself last year that I couldn't be able to be a mod before a few months or maybe a year because I needed a bit more time and experience. And a better level of English.

Now that I am thinking about it, I may become a good mod too. But meh, I can wait for that. And make fun of the mods because they were lazy to arrive soon enough during RD (I luv you Addy' ).

[Adsolution]

I get the feeling we got to a misunderstanding due to cultural differences.

Not so sure about that, hm.

I get the feeling that people from overseas and I have a tendency to talk straight passed each other, completely missing each others' points. I'm going to accredit that to cultural separation, but call it whatever you like.

I could say the same for some arguments I've gotten in with other members of this board, but the thing is, these akin arguments have no source based on culture. For the most part, it's incredibly difficult for me to discern whether someone is European or American on this forum normally (spelling and grammar aside), let alone based on their arguments, and I think for something this trivial, it's, in my opinion, almost lazy to attribute it to cultural separation - cultural separation seems like something that someone might have realised exists more than they previously thought after travelling abroad, then taking what they've noticed for granted, exaggerating its role in our communication to the point where it's used as a deciding factor, and not one of many, many different factors that should all be considered equally. I find this to be a common thing when someone experiences something at least somewhat life-changing, the novelty of this new concept really takes hold and garners much more importance than it deserves. I'm only saying this because I know you found the move to Canada and back rather jarring, and I've never heard you pipe up about this "cultural separation" thing until after you got back home, and this isn't the first time.

The fact that you have to say 'end of story' makes it feel very much like an argument to me. Enough of this. I don't feel like talking about it anymore. It's making me feel incredibly uncomfortable that I was trying to talk about the general way one should perceive our community and its mods, inspired by what you wrote, and instead it got received as a direct criticism to what you wrote, all because I felt that when it comes to the phrasing 'brownie points with the higher-ups' it feels like you mean 'sucking up to them to make yourself look good' as opposed to 'appearing good because you are good', even though the latter is exactly what you implied. I misunderstood. I apologise.

It's obvious what I'm trying to convey; to be eligible for moderator privileges, you should be apt in nature, not in act. I'm sorry it got so out of hand and my post was received as a lecture. I write long posts. I enjoy writing long posts. Make of that what you will.

You were quite deliberately disagreeing with him though, essentially making an argument: "that's the wrong way of looking at it", and you then proceeded to restate your own point after every post and discrediting the validity of the "brownie points" statement. You were the one who started the argument, and I think the misunderstanding is more so accredited to you not visibly accepting what Rayfist was saying as the equivalent to what you were saying, not "cultural differences".

Regardless of what Rayfist is saying now, I don't think he was joking, because nothing he said was wrong or disagreeable. I have the feeling that because you were misinterpreting the brownie points statement as being negative to begin with, you sort of killed the original - correct - confidence he had in his statement, and I don't think he's able to put it into words properly.

[Shrooblord]

This is giving me a headache. I've said what I wanted to say and I guess I was being silly. I'm also very tired. Never mind my stupid face. ;D

[Rayfist]

I'm not even sure if I was joking or not at this point, because I'm so confused, all I can really say is I was saying "brownie points" in a jokingly way, sarcastic, but my main point was basically what you believe is correct, so yeah I guess I was serious, but serious in a jokingly way if that makes any sense- stating the obvious, blah blah, you get the point.