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The site Admins, and my official feelings. [keep]
12 years ago
*shakes head and shrugs* I decided to put my aside notes at the bottom so as not to be distracted with my ramblings. However, if you placed them where their numerals are and read it straight through, you would see how my brain reads, the Labyrinthine Train Wreck that it is. XD
*throat clear* Ahem. First off, I have no beef, and practically never do with the Admins of this site. [1] They do their job keeping the site functioning as best they can. I don't own or run a site or server, I couldn't imagine the hell and banter of users they must go through on a daily basis. How they react, penalize, and operate are case by case. Anyone who has been here as long as I have should know this. (Since 2006)
For myself, trying to calmly explain the reason behind something and leaving it at that, or going over any misunderstanding/miss communication with the involved parties, has worked for me since I ever knew of furries or online journals. [2] I've never received a ban, suspension, and the only time I had something taken down was in the wake of the DMCA action on FA by Allan. [2] I've had a few notes between admins. Seem to be on the outer rim of the furry circles they hang with. Have none watching me and I'm not watching any of them. Just staying my coarse, like Serenity, and hoping they're not hungry for me.
However, as much as people want to scream and rant about the admins, I recall one thing that was used in Dragoneers defense, I think it was him, that has since caused me to not even get surprised at the admins actions. "FA is a semi-public forum/art site that is hosted by a private party" there fore, they can have as arbitrary and ridiculous rules they want or need, and enforce them as they see fit. Why? They own the place. You think a landlord has never evicted someone they had a personal beef with? Exactly. [4]
So as much as we try to compare them to good or evil, tell them what they should or shouldn't do, or point out their mistakes and misgivings, they really don't have to listen or answer to any of us. Its their servers, their site. Its our content, but they are the host. You may have made an excellent dish, but when the master of the house asks you to leave, you have to leave. Ultimate authority. This site is not a democracy. So while we can enjoy our freedom as artists, they have their rules. You follow or you don't. It is truly that simple. [5]
So place nice and follow the rules or take your ball elsewhere. Since then, I've pretty much kept to myself and only asked a question or two to admins of "Why was this person banned/suspended, as I know the person and missed out why" or "This person has posted adult content of them self (eg; pictures of their testicles) and the content should be taken down" Both real notes I've sent over real situations. That about wraps it up. I didn't even have to send a note about an image I colored for Allan when the DMCA axe came down on my gallery, as they had already sent a note explaining and apologizing the reason the art had to be taken down. [6] That is the extent of my interaction with the admins. I handle questions and misunderstandings on my own and never had to get an admin to interfere. Also, each of those notes sent were handled and explained with politeness and no drama, journals, or issue was taken with any of it.
So, there you have it. My stance is a resounding shoulder shrug. They do what they can and want, because they can do what they can and want. Some are hits, some are misses. There has been great drama all over this site, while I casually move along in search for the droids I'm looking for. I have not needed to rise up "against the admin man" nor call for a rally of support over another users actions against me, save for one incident:
The only thing close to drama I had to deal with was when I made a comment on a piece of art. Person A made an art that had her character and another character, that of Person B, in an erotic manner. I pointed out that there was space on the left open, perhaps for a 3rd character? Person A responded that she was not into that. Person B threatened me with violence. That Person A was his wife, that their characters are EXACT representations of themselves, and an advance on her character was an advance on his wife, which he took very personally. Now, an important note right there is, I never said it was me or my character who should be in the image with them. Nor did I go into graphic detail about how I/the character should plow her from the back. No, an critique point was warped into "I wanna help him bang his wife" in this guy's psychotic mind.
I apologized, that I did not know that was how they treated their characters. I honestly didn't read that part in their profiles. I don't read everyone's profile information before making a post. Shame on me. *slaps one hand with the other* He called me a liar that I knew (cause you know what I know, ya jackass) and threatened to kill me if he ever met me in person. Now, I could have taken that to the admins. A personal life threat against me over a comment that could have just as easily been blocked? A comment that was never repeated nor had this been going on over many submissions. However, that is an issue you take to the cops, not the admins. A threat, a life threat, a stalker? That is issues for the police to handle, not a site admin. You can report to the admin that "This user is harassing me" and they can place a ban or block the user. that is where that admin's responsibility ends, in my eyes. Maybe I'm wrong? I know if I was running a site and someone came to me about a stalker, first thing I'd ask was "Did you call the police?" *shrugs* So, I unwatched Person A, deleted the image I colored for Person A, and stopped giving a rats about Person A, except I hope Person B is NOT as Psychotic to her, for I'm not spiteful. She had no control over his over reaction. She didn't say anything or try to dissolve the issue, so who knows. Maybe she likes to see him go over board on people. Maybe its a turn on. Maybe they're both nuts. Who gives a shit, right?
So, like he said to the woman of the night, "take it as you will." Questions?
1) I had no issue with the Admins for the DMCA act enforced by Allan, that was their job. I did take objection to their ban of Norithics, when the Sonic age/cub issue changed their terms and AUP of this site. That caused an Exodus to InkBunny that we have lost him to that site and other artists. Shame, as it has a stronger filing and ability to sell prints and would be a strong competitor to FA. I decided to take a break from FA, and have never fully recovered drawing art at the frequency I once did on account of this. Though I did not leave FA over it.
2) When I first came online, when Labrn was barely an idea and Mystic not even an idea, I was on LiveJournal/GreatJournal. Before the time of Blogs, Tumblrs, and Twitters. I'll have to revisit them sometime, and either clear them and take them down or leave it be. So go search while you can. Take a wild guess what the user name is? :P For those new to me, it was an interaction on a journal that brought me to FA and the furry fandom.
3) Says he regrets it, I have communication off site over on InkBunny, I'm indifferent to him but upset at the action. Lots of collateral damage. The worse thing you can ever do to an artist is censor/destroy their artwork. Collaboration, colorings, stories. Someone took time and imagination to make something that brought emotion and freedom to another and you took that away. How dare you. If it was your creation or you were a part of it and then someone taking it down or away, that is like telling an artist to not breathe, think, or live. Those words/actions, my friend, are fightin' words/actions.
4) Not saying its right, but saying it is what it is. You can fight to get back on FA. Maybe even get an apology. I know users who have tried. I've heard of users coming back under aliases, and others who gave up and moved on. Do you want to after dealing with something like that? Well, that is on you.
5) Personally, I don't see why this stalker/ban thing happened the way it did. Poor judgement, wrong move, information they have we didn't. *shrugs* I was not part of it and never was. I'm sorry to sound cold, but I don't have too much insight or care on a topic I know nothing about nor was involved with. I react to things that effect me in a greater stance. That said, I don't see why they didn't suspend the stalker's account or all parties involved until the situation was discovered. At the very least, that would have only caused a hiccup in their productivity than the drama that ensued.
6) The only thing I never got a full answer to was when I was working on the rules for a Pleasure Bon Bon card game. I had set all the rules up and posted them on 2 journals here. The journals have since been missing, as I don't recall ever taking them down. It could have been during an update/crash. Maybe taken down due to it being similar to any of Furoticon's rules? (Though this was at least a year or two before that came out) *shrugs* I only have scraps of the rules left here and there that I never fully recovered from. All my PBB CCG eggs were in the FA basket.
*throat clear* Ahem. First off, I have no beef, and practically never do with the Admins of this site. [1] They do their job keeping the site functioning as best they can. I don't own or run a site or server, I couldn't imagine the hell and banter of users they must go through on a daily basis. How they react, penalize, and operate are case by case. Anyone who has been here as long as I have should know this. (Since 2006)
For myself, trying to calmly explain the reason behind something and leaving it at that, or going over any misunderstanding/miss communication with the involved parties, has worked for me since I ever knew of furries or online journals. [2] I've never received a ban, suspension, and the only time I had something taken down was in the wake of the DMCA action on FA by Allan. [2] I've had a few notes between admins. Seem to be on the outer rim of the furry circles they hang with. Have none watching me and I'm not watching any of them. Just staying my coarse, like Serenity, and hoping they're not hungry for me.
However, as much as people want to scream and rant about the admins, I recall one thing that was used in Dragoneers defense, I think it was him, that has since caused me to not even get surprised at the admins actions. "FA is a semi-public forum/art site that is hosted by a private party" there fore, they can have as arbitrary and ridiculous rules they want or need, and enforce them as they see fit. Why? They own the place. You think a landlord has never evicted someone they had a personal beef with? Exactly. [4]
So as much as we try to compare them to good or evil, tell them what they should or shouldn't do, or point out their mistakes and misgivings, they really don't have to listen or answer to any of us. Its their servers, their site. Its our content, but they are the host. You may have made an excellent dish, but when the master of the house asks you to leave, you have to leave. Ultimate authority. This site is not a democracy. So while we can enjoy our freedom as artists, they have their rules. You follow or you don't. It is truly that simple. [5]
So place nice and follow the rules or take your ball elsewhere. Since then, I've pretty much kept to myself and only asked a question or two to admins of "Why was this person banned/suspended, as I know the person and missed out why" or "This person has posted adult content of them self (eg; pictures of their testicles) and the content should be taken down" Both real notes I've sent over real situations. That about wraps it up. I didn't even have to send a note about an image I colored for Allan when the DMCA axe came down on my gallery, as they had already sent a note explaining and apologizing the reason the art had to be taken down. [6] That is the extent of my interaction with the admins. I handle questions and misunderstandings on my own and never had to get an admin to interfere. Also, each of those notes sent were handled and explained with politeness and no drama, journals, or issue was taken with any of it.
So, there you have it. My stance is a resounding shoulder shrug. They do what they can and want, because they can do what they can and want. Some are hits, some are misses. There has been great drama all over this site, while I casually move along in search for the droids I'm looking for. I have not needed to rise up "against the admin man" nor call for a rally of support over another users actions against me, save for one incident:
The only thing close to drama I had to deal with was when I made a comment on a piece of art. Person A made an art that had her character and another character, that of Person B, in an erotic manner. I pointed out that there was space on the left open, perhaps for a 3rd character? Person A responded that she was not into that. Person B threatened me with violence. That Person A was his wife, that their characters are EXACT representations of themselves, and an advance on her character was an advance on his wife, which he took very personally. Now, an important note right there is, I never said it was me or my character who should be in the image with them. Nor did I go into graphic detail about how I/the character should plow her from the back. No, an critique point was warped into "I wanna help him bang his wife" in this guy's psychotic mind.
I apologized, that I did not know that was how they treated their characters. I honestly didn't read that part in their profiles. I don't read everyone's profile information before making a post. Shame on me. *slaps one hand with the other* He called me a liar that I knew (cause you know what I know, ya jackass) and threatened to kill me if he ever met me in person. Now, I could have taken that to the admins. A personal life threat against me over a comment that could have just as easily been blocked? A comment that was never repeated nor had this been going on over many submissions. However, that is an issue you take to the cops, not the admins. A threat, a life threat, a stalker? That is issues for the police to handle, not a site admin. You can report to the admin that "This user is harassing me" and they can place a ban or block the user. that is where that admin's responsibility ends, in my eyes. Maybe I'm wrong? I know if I was running a site and someone came to me about a stalker, first thing I'd ask was "Did you call the police?" *shrugs* So, I unwatched Person A, deleted the image I colored for Person A, and stopped giving a rats about Person A, except I hope Person B is NOT as Psychotic to her, for I'm not spiteful. She had no control over his over reaction. She didn't say anything or try to dissolve the issue, so who knows. Maybe she likes to see him go over board on people. Maybe its a turn on. Maybe they're both nuts. Who gives a shit, right?
So, like he said to the woman of the night, "take it as you will." Questions?
1) I had no issue with the Admins for the DMCA act enforced by Allan, that was their job. I did take objection to their ban of Norithics, when the Sonic age/cub issue changed their terms and AUP of this site. That caused an Exodus to InkBunny that we have lost him to that site and other artists. Shame, as it has a stronger filing and ability to sell prints and would be a strong competitor to FA. I decided to take a break from FA, and have never fully recovered drawing art at the frequency I once did on account of this. Though I did not leave FA over it.
2) When I first came online, when Labrn was barely an idea and Mystic not even an idea, I was on LiveJournal/GreatJournal. Before the time of Blogs, Tumblrs, and Twitters. I'll have to revisit them sometime, and either clear them and take them down or leave it be. So go search while you can. Take a wild guess what the user name is? :P For those new to me, it was an interaction on a journal that brought me to FA and the furry fandom.
3) Says he regrets it, I have communication off site over on InkBunny, I'm indifferent to him but upset at the action. Lots of collateral damage. The worse thing you can ever do to an artist is censor/destroy their artwork. Collaboration, colorings, stories. Someone took time and imagination to make something that brought emotion and freedom to another and you took that away. How dare you. If it was your creation or you were a part of it and then someone taking it down or away, that is like telling an artist to not breathe, think, or live. Those words/actions, my friend, are fightin' words/actions.
4) Not saying its right, but saying it is what it is. You can fight to get back on FA. Maybe even get an apology. I know users who have tried. I've heard of users coming back under aliases, and others who gave up and moved on. Do you want to after dealing with something like that? Well, that is on you.
5) Personally, I don't see why this stalker/ban thing happened the way it did. Poor judgement, wrong move, information they have we didn't. *shrugs* I was not part of it and never was. I'm sorry to sound cold, but I don't have too much insight or care on a topic I know nothing about nor was involved with. I react to things that effect me in a greater stance. That said, I don't see why they didn't suspend the stalker's account or all parties involved until the situation was discovered. At the very least, that would have only caused a hiccup in their productivity than the drama that ensued.
6) The only thing I never got a full answer to was when I was working on the rules for a Pleasure Bon Bon card game. I had set all the rules up and posted them on 2 journals here. The journals have since been missing, as I don't recall ever taking them down. It could have been during an update/crash. Maybe taken down due to it being similar to any of Furoticon's rules? (Though this was at least a year or two before that came out) *shrugs* I only have scraps of the rules left here and there that I never fully recovered from. All my PBB CCG eggs were in the FA basket.
Your way of handling it was a respectable way. :3
I get over zealous or raged just like anyone else. If I do, I hope someone will stand firm through it and wake me up that I'm being a jerk so I can come to and regain my composure.
But, I have to ask, was there any drama with the admins lately that I don't know about? I haven't been too active here, but it seems like there's a lot of thread covering the mods and people's feelings towards them.
Someone had a stalker and due to some twist of events, the person complaining about the stalker got banned and the stalker got suspended. This caused a stink among a couple of popufurs, who said they're gonna leave FA and go to Weasyl, which is what spawned all those "I made a weasyl account" journals.
It didn't effect me, so I'm staying here.
Considering this is an art site, where people expose- and sell, their creativity, I'd say it's pretty dumb to leave at all. The site is an exposure tool. The mods have to make sure that it works, but that's the thing, the functionality of exposing the art isn't at all compromised by this sort of thing. The dicks are still red, the dragons are still blue. *Cough*
''Leaving'' a place that takes literal seconds to go in- and leave from, is over dramatic in my opinion, and logging in to drop off art is maybe a minute's work if you copy description/tags. It sounds like bad business sense to simply drop that kind of exposure just because of something that has very little to do with the art itself. A nice community with super hero moderators is nice, but is realistically just extra.
site has rules, abide to them. Admins are not overlords, nor have the ability to protect you from everything, stop whining and deal with trolls and harassers. The moment someone steps into my house with a knife... he's fucking gone... *cocks shotgun*