What the HELL has happened to this board?

[chicagoboy]

Originally Posted by pyramider

No money but there were some modtards filling my PM box with requests and offers.

Pistolero?

[Glenn Quagmire]

Originally Posted by pyramider

The only problem with that the rules are the rules. Did you forget that aspd had modtards that ran fiefdoms? Modtards banned members for no reason concerning aspd. Modtards in several areas were de facto pimps in those areas. Do you want to see another epic meltdown like aspd? The modtards did it, not Amber.

Talk about revisionist history. Now I don't know what was going on in Houston back then, but it was like the wild west.

But to say it nothing to do with Amber is BS. She was a junkie at the end and got staph infections and flesh eating bacteria and pneumonia that killed her in the end. Having an absentee owner who couldn't pay her bills and had no clue what was happening with the board and was unaware who she was conversing with on the phone at times left chaos to rule the day.

Shit, you had multiple handles and on board arguments with yourself. You got mad at the moderators for trying to keep the chaos, the trolls, and the level of venom in check? You pulled shit like that and got mad if you got points or some of your handles banned? But it was the moderators fault?

MODS have NO real power in the hobby. Any power is imagined by the users. All they can do is give you some points for breaking the rules and edit or censor a few posts. Yes, some of them have proven to be over zealous. When you are a hammer, all you see are nails. But what could they really do outside of ignoring a few posts that made them powerful? There is no reason to give them free pussy or a discount unless you are a troll provider always looking for a fight (Tara and a few other crazy bitches).

The admins can expedite or delay provider status, but there is really no incentive for them to do that. If a provider gave them anything beyond good mileage, they were stupid. They didn't have to as there was nothing to gain.

The only conflicts of interest I have seen were some early mods here who tried to run agencies or did screening/advertising for gals and when that was found out, they were removed. I don't remember what the Dallas Eccie mods name was that was exposed for doing that; he lowered his profile after that. (Purple something or other?)

Outside of a few SA/Houston mods that also ran social lists, I am unaware any ASPD mods that ran an agency while on staff except for one early Dallas admin. But the point is, I think some board users who generally misbehave on the board anyway, give the moderators a lot of power that they really do not possess. Don't give them a reason to point you or ban you and they have NO power over you. I don't think they give a shit about 99.8% of the posters here; and when they do hand out some points, it probably isn't personal. 3 months later, they don't remember you or the infraction. Some users think they are powerful or influential when they are not. Only the "Welcome Wagon Chicks" fall victim to someone claiming authority or power. The seasoned providers think the mods and prolific users are pathetic.

So what are these "powers" that the moderators so readily abused?

[pyramider]

Not revisionist history. Aspd was going down the tubes long before Amber did. Modtards diverting funds, being de facto pimps, being pimps etc. DFW was well represented in that group.

You want to know why I was banned, I had no points on aspd? I was banned because I was a modtard on a competing board. Rascal and Big Jake were not banned, they were the only two not banned. Thus the creation of alternate personas. You are incorrect at my pettiness. I did it to prove it could be done successfully.

[needingmilking]

OMG, this, for you newbies (less than 10 years in the hobby) what i would call real history.

It is the stuff on legends!

More, please!

[ck1942]

Started in 1999, ASPD aka "the Mother Ship" later was professionally hacked in the 2004/2005 timeframe and after that Amber was derelict in fine tuning, backing up the data bases and in updating both software and hardware. And in preventing several subsequent hacking attacks.

She was the only super-admin ever with total access to the site's programming innards, although a life partner or two had some input from time to time over the years.

Serious vB software aging and lack of updating issues and Amber's own programming hacks commenced the site's death spiral shortly before she died in December 2009 and the site was closed several weeks thereafter.

Far as I know the database was never fully backed up nor archived or accessible after that. Some portions are out there on some archival sites like WayBack. Others might be saved in users' files.

Yes, she was seriously ill for many months in 2009 and she delegated internal site operation and upgrades to her immediate family members who were not up to the technology challenges, but they kept saying fixes were imminent.

As I recall, ulimately the Mother Ship had close to 100k members.

And yes, I was an early moderator and administrator until her death.

So obviously I am guilty of multiple offenses against all the bad actors.

And call me culpable, too, for the Houston social bust that December in which a dozen peeps were hauled downtown. But the other 100 or so party goers still there (out of the more than 200 attending the xmas event) all walked away intact, including the organizers.

While the bust ended the long and previously successful string of Houston meet & greets started in the early 2000 era, the Austin and San Antonio events have continued unbroken with some "forays" into cities nother and south from time to time.

= = = =

As for the OP's observation ... imo the site is what you make of it.

My view, the glass is half full, not half empty.

True contibutors imho are still underwriting the data base so ...

... plenty of folks are doing just fine hobbying despite the bumps and grinds navigating the stray electrons (aka trolls).

Happy Hobbying!

[BLM69]

You old timers have issues, let the aspd days go and enjoy the site now.

[hotindallas]

I sincerely thank you for the history, ck1942.

Originally Posted by ck1942

...As for the OP's observation ... imo the site is what you make of it.

My view, the glass is half full, not half empty...

Agreed, on both points, especially about the "site is what you make of it" part. In my opinion, the "YOU" in that sentence is key...with "YOU" being defined as each and every one of us here. Troll-Tards can be beaten back. As an example, if you have time to read through two threads (some of it is not pretty, and some of it is downright hilarious):

https://www.eccie.net/showthread.php?t=2205555

https://www.eccie.net/showthread.php?t=2211399

The story that these two threads tell actually had a happy conclusion, and shows that there really are folks who truly still care about not only the hobby, but also the PEOPLE in the hobby.

Guess what? Although the Troll-Tard who is the subject of the above threads is still posting, since October 21st his posts have ALL been in the Sandbox...it seems he is unwilling to show up anywhere else now. I believe that this battle was won by the non-Trolls.

It remains to be seen in the long run, but I truly believe that there is a way to keep Troll-Tardedness in check (it will never be eliminated, but it CAN be kept under control...it just takes effort from all of us to do it).

Thanks to each of y'all for taking the time to read and provide input on this.

[Wile E Coyote]

The current state of this board is pretty much drama drama drama. But, the fact is, at least in the Dallas forums, the drama is carried out by only a handful of individuals, and the staff knows who they are, so when the OP stated that the admins and mods can do nothing about it, that is 100% not true. IMO, the reasoning is, there is no guideline against being a troll and doing baiting posts, so the mods sit on their hands and enjoy the drama that unfolds, then maybe when a GL is being violated in the subsequent posts, they might take action. The thing is, when a troll hijacks a thread or when the troll insults the OP or even disrespects another member posting on topic on a thread in their baiting posts, those are two blatant GL infractions right there (1,3,4 and 6 of the forum guidelines respectively), so saying mods can do very little is not accurate.

In this thread, https://www.eccie.net/showthread.php?t=2206590 , also started by the same OP as this thread, a member stated that just because a guy posts reviews, does not mean he is not a troll. That could be true, especially if he has say 2000 posts and 4 reviews. It depends on the content of those posts, is he being helpful to the community and providing intel on providers and hobby related subjects or is he hijacking threads, insulting others and seems to have an agenda? In reality, I would rather have a guy posting on this designed info exchange board that does AMP, Strip Club even Other reviews, than a guy that has thousands of posts and a single digit review count, or the ratio, whose post count is mainly thread hijacks, insults and hear say/fabricated info designed to stir the shit pot that is the current state of Eccie.

[TinMan]

This seems to be following a very familiar path.

[hotindallas]

Originally Posted by Wile E Coyote

...so when the OP stated that the admins and mods can do nothing about it, that is 100% not true...

...It depends on the content of those posts, is he being helpful to the community and providing intel on providers and hobby related subjects or is he hijacking threads, insulting others and seems to have an agenda?...

Just to clarify, good sir - I didn't say that the admins and mods can do nothing about it...my statement was that they need our help to do something about it...
On the second part of the above quote, AGREED. Members to attempt to be helpful and provide intel are NOT trolls, IMHO.

There was another thread started about the Troll-Tard subject this weekend:
https://www.eccie.net/showthread.php?t=2216225
I don't know the OP, and have never interacted with the OP (as far as I know). But he makes a good point in his thread.

[Crock]

Originally Posted by hotindallas

Just to clarify, good sir - I didn't say that the admins and mods can do nothing about it...my statement was that they need our help to do something about it...

They don't need our help. They know that it's a single person that is trying to ruin ECCIE for all of Dallas. They know it and they're doing nothing about it. This troll is running circles around them, dancing just outside the guideline violations to avoid points.

He's repeatedly stated that his purpose is to be the most legendary troll that ECCIE has ever seen. Mods need to have a meeting of the minds and get rid of this troll permanently.

[suiram77]

Originally Posted by Crock

They don't need our help. They know that it's a single person that is trying to ruin ECCIE for all of Dallas. They know it and they're doing nothing about it. This troll is running circles around them, dancing just outside the guideline violations to avoid points.

He's repeatedly stated that his purpose is to be the most legendary troll that ECCIE has ever seen. Mods need to have a meeting of the minds and get rid of this troll permanently.

Lmfao, well good luck with that PAWB, because they will have to completely change all the rules in order to remotely come even close to a permanent banned of suiram77.

Keep in mind that if they was to change all the rules, then it will be a lot more of you thugs and trolls going with me lol. What they are doing is seeing who the real Trolls are, have it ever crossed your mind that maybe Suiram77, may have alerted the mods to what he is doing, just for them to see who the real trolls are. You can easily ignore me, and if everyone ignores me, then I’m certainly going to go away permanently on my on.

Guess what? Too bad you all can’t do it, So ask yourself who is the real troll, if you keep feeding me? Yes you got it you and others. My sig line speaks for itself and I have said serval times now how to beat suiram77 and not once have most of you came close to doing it. One of the guidelines says there will always be a troll or post baiting, try to ignore it and stay away from board confrontation, and yet have any of you done that? A big ass Nope. It’s time to look in the mirror buddy and stop blaming the Mod staff, and start blaming yourself for suiram77 relevance and existence here on the boards.

That thread who is suiram77, and what’s your opinion about him, was created to show the mods and others who the real trolls are. There should have never been one single post in that thread, but of course I’m not surprised it was 100’s of post and why, because suiram77 is far from the only troll buddy. I will say it again, only to watch most of you not follow through, if you want suiram77 to go away and no longer be a nuisance, troll, smart ass, whatever you call him, then all you have to do is never ever, ever, ever, post in any current thread or future thread of suiram77 or post on any of 77 post comments, and then it will be the end of suiram77, but if you just can’t, then you are the problem and read my sig line. Good day

[Tsmokies]

It's kind of like twit head potus lol and s77 wanna be...just enjoy the entertainment and don't take it so serious. It only gets worse if you let it people. And I can't even spell aspd or p4 so I don't care how great they were/are

[Wile E Coyote]

Originally Posted by hotindallas

Just to clarify, good sir - I didn't say that the admins and mods can do nothing about it...my statement was that they need our help to do something about it...
On the second part of the above quote, AGREED. Members to attempt to be helpful and provide intel are NOT trolls, IMHO.

There was another thread started about the Troll-Tard subject this weekend:
https://www.eccie.net/showthread.php?t=2216225
I don't know the OP, and have never interacted with the OP (as far as I know). But he makes a good point in his thread.

The only help the staff needs is to RTM the threads that are in blantant violation of the guidelines, which as I have pointed out earlier, and let them do their job. If they do nothing, then the site will continue to be in the state it is and get worse. Another thing you can do to help is just to ignore the trolls, as you have stated in your OP, and quit responding to their posts.

Originally Posted by Crock

They don't need our help. They know that it's a single person that is trying to ruin ECCIE for all of Dallas. They know it and they're doing nothing about it. This troll is running circles around them, dancing just outside the guideline violations to avoid points.

He's repeatedly stated that his purpose is to be the most legendary troll that ECCIE has ever seen. Mods need to have a meeting of the minds and get rid of this troll permanently.

I hate to tell you this, but there is more than one troll, there are actually quite a few. I do not see them dancing around avoiding points, the black and white guideline violations are there, just not being enforced. As I said, that is on the staff of this site, do they want a provider info exchange board or do they want a drama, agenda and clique laden board?

[Grace Preston]

Originally Posted by Wile E Coyote

As I said, that is on the staff of this site, do they want a provider info exchange board or do they want a drama, agenda and clique laden board?

Has that question not already been sufficiently answered?