MacrossMan

Thanks miriya. Lt. Lie-A-Lot reminds me of the clown that's always talking loud, but saying nothing. I was piddling around with my CF today and fixed this pose and the dialogue was laced all in it. A wanna-be-bad-a$$...but he's Cannon Fodder ya know? Just don't call him Slickback for short! That is one of my favorites, and Kat Williams does an awesome job of voicing the character.

Lt. Larry-Lie-A-Lot of Tell Tale Squadron fabricating one of his tiresome war stories. Let's see what little Hikaru Ichijo thinks... Yeah, Hik man, aint no punks where I come from man! We smashed those fools son! I was so knee deep in a Zentradi's a$$ his breath smelled like jet fuel! Hikaru: Whatever man! Your Cannon Fodder a$$ couldn't bust a grape in fruit fight. Lie-A-Lot-Larry!

My definition of ugly what this discussion has become >EXO<. My apologies for attempting to have this conversation. I will bow out of the discussion and hopefully it will become locked. I appreciate the replies though.

I think you're right Kicker. The sad part is, is that this is not even about the dead horse. There was a statement made in that thread that it is not about the dead horse, but about being open. I took that and ran with it and brought this whole thing about mod style. If I had known about this area of the forum when things went down way back when I would have posted it then. I just accepted the suspension, sat out until the suspension expired and came back. I didn't get as active as I have been lately until the announcement of the 1/48 Max and all the current stuff coming out. This is cool place for people who collect the toys. I don't get knee deep into the hobby. I just have a display in my office with a bunch of cool expensive toys and I have developed a passion for collecting them. Call me your bastard or red-neck collector who knows jack-$hit about the hobby. I think that might bother some people that not everyone is a true fan and that's pretty sad.

>EXO< it is no secret you can be a butt in your replies. You’ve admitted it and everyone sees it. Does this mean I don’t like you? Not at all. I actually think you can be cool when you want and be a butt when you want, but it’s all in fun and everyone knows and accepts that about you on the fourm. This is not about me and it is not about you. It’s about a particular incident regarding a moderating style that I didn’t think was appropriate and I thought we could have a reasonable discussion about without retorting to silliness. I never even knew this area of the forum existed until I was reminded in the previous thread that spawned this discussion that this is an open forum for members to discuss things openly. But seriously, if we can’t discuss, we can agree to disagree and just move on from here. It doesn’t have to get ugly. Too exciting of a time to be a Yamato Macross fan to get bogged down in an endless conversation. Let’s just let by-gones be by-gones and move forward and lock this thing down. Delete the entire discussion even if that’s possible.

Your interpretation of things are dangerous man. This is not about me. It's about having an open conversation without getting childish. My opinion is that the one incident was handled inappropriately and let's see what we can do COLLECTIVELY to make things better. Follow the rules is only part of the answer. Come on >EXO< let's not be silly about this. No way have I even ensinuated that "the mods" suck. That's really immature. I've continually said I think that most do a fine job. Just trying to have an open conversation, but if it can't happen let's lock this thing down, and I can put this whole moderating style thing to rest and move forward without looking back.

Not taking things personal. Just trying to have an open conversation. I’d like to think that members here are not here to bug or irritate anyone; at least not intentionally. If someone is irritated or bugged then there is a way to handle it. You have to know you’ve broken a rule. In my case, any rule that had been broken was not made known. The only thing being made known is that I was being handed a temporary suspension. This was all done in the open forum and I feel it should have taken place in PM. Maybe that could be part of the moderator’s code of conduct: Inform members of broken rules in PM. If member fails to comply inform then of possible suspension. The moderating style of this particular mod I feel was inappropriate and uneccessary. Again, I don’t take this personal. I’d like to put this experience in the open forum in hopes that we can learn from it and help those moderators who might need some direction in better dealing with a situation when a member breaks a rule. I don’t have an issue with the suspension, but rather the way and reason it was handed down. If at all possible I’d like to not see it happen to anyone else. I think this should really be given some consideration. There are several active members here who have been around for quite some time that I think would be happy to take on this responsibility to for the forum. I imagine being a mod can be a headache at times and would give mods a break from the hassle of it all. I think the moderators here are laid back. The one issue I had wasn’t with all the moderators here; it was with one, but I have seen behavior in others that puts me in the mindset of corrupt police. I guess in the scope of things the behavior really doesn’t matter since I’m referencing only one incident from one mod. That being said, I have no problems with the other behavior I have seen, but I see that if this one mod is allowed to moderate in the fashion he did, then it is inevitable that he will continue in this fashion. We all screw up and react at times, but it’s all about learning from those screw ups. Sometimes we have get outside our feelings and re-assess a situation to see if we could have done things differently. It doesn’t make us bad, it just makes us human and we grow from it. I agree and do appreciate that I am not the one doing it. I moderate people’s lives everyday in my job and I get paid for it. I can tell you, it’s no fun being in a position of authority because you can never make all of the people happy all of the time. I agree with that to a certain extent, but it doesn’t exempt a mod from moderating inappropriately. Bull$hit runs a marathon. I think it says a lot about Shawn and Graham devotion to the hobby to put in the kind of work it takes to maintain site. I would gladly pay a small fee to be a member here and I’m sure others would too. Would probably help these guys off-set some of their expense and maybe do other things like hold drawings for toys and what not or maybe even help fund different MW Cons. I have to believe that they could easily whore the site out from advertisers who are willing to pay, but them not doing that says a lot. That being said, I have nothing but appreciation for these guys. This is just an attempt for us to be open about moderating practices. We can agree to disagree, but I think we can have an open and honest conversation about this without fear of offending anyone.

Before this thing goes sideways, this is not about Ryno so please refrain beating a dead horse to death. This is about moderating styles and moderating styles only. That being said, let's not bring that up the dead post and focus truly on moderating.

I feel most of the moderators here do a fine job, but there is always room for improvement. I see a need for consistency and standards in moderating. Just as members here have rules to follow, maybe some sort of code of conduct should be developed for moderators to follow. I imagine this post will probably be locked, but I am curious to know what others think. I'm also responding a to post by >EXO< that has to do with my opinion regarding moderating styles. Money talks; bull$hit runs a marathon. Money being legitimate explanations, I will respond to them. Bull$hit being senseless explanations, I ignore those; mod or no. If it’s meant for me to have access to the forums then it will be or it won’t be. I have far too much other stuff going on in my life to give power to nameless people on a forum to the degree that it matters whether or not they like or dislike me. It’s just not that important. As far as “the mods hate me”, I think most do a fine job of walking the fine line of moderating. I commend them and have a lot of respect for their style of moderating, but there are a few who remind me of cocky police officers; the ones that usually show no restraint when they feel irritated by a member. They tend more to react and flex in the open forum instead of keeping a cool head. This is news to me that I was reported for trolling. I have no idea what trolling is. Anyone with half a brain could have read that post and realize that your interpretation of how things played out has been overly dramatized and reduced to pettiness. The way I see it, a seller offered up a couple of items, I asked if he was willing to sell part of the deal, the seller said no, after the items had not sold the seller made an open plea to help him out, I then asked again if he was willing to split the sale and made a snod comment and I shot back letting him I was trying to meet his need by helping him out since he asked. A mod then stepped in and said play nice. I explained my position and the conversation went the way of my fascination with balls; balls meaning testicles with an underlined insinuation in my opinion. I cleared up the mod’s “fascination with balls” statement and the mod did not like it. Him not liking the comments or feeling irritated ended in my suspension. >EXO<, of course I have a retort when my comments go misconstrued and puts me a negative light. I’ve conducted business on the forums and people tend to not want to deal with those who are cast in a bad light so I have to clear things up. I know you’re an important person in the Macrossworld forums, but you’ve given yourself too much credit in regards to my opinion. My comments in regards to the inconsistent styles of moderating did not mention anything about “how unjust you are.” With all due respect, it wasn’t even about you. You were not the one that handed down the temporary suspension. Even when you made your comments regarding the situation, the fact remains that it was not about you. I’ve never said you’re unjust, but I have said that some mods get beside themselves. Again, with all due respect, your comments above puts you beside yourself, because my opinion regarding moderating styles and the suspension had nothing to do with you; you brought yourself into it. And for the record, I have not complained “over and over again” about “how unfairly the forum is ran”. I think the forum runs just fine, but feel there should be some standards in moderating. My opinion about the moderating style of some was not a complaint. The issue has come up twice and twice my opinion has not changed; and for the third time I will move on. I found about Macross and MacrossWold by accident. It’s simply a place for me to come view toys and share pics of my all while making the occasional comment. Like many others here I’ve amassed a boatload of Yamato Macross toys (fairly quick I might add) just because I fell in love with how cool they are. The toys are what brought me here so chances are my comments made on the forums will be simpleton statements regarding how cool a toy is with the occasional opinion about something outside the toys. Nothing more, nothing less. I am still a fairly new kid on the block. I’ve only been around the forums for a little over a year. How dare I come here and complain about the moderating styles? Right? Like most, I have opinions. I might stand alone in my opinion and that’s okay, but it’s my opinion nonetheless. You’re absolutely right that if the majorities are not complaining then what’s my beef? I have two options: I can either put my opinion aside and continue to participate on the site or move on. After my suspension I chose to put my opinion aside and continued participating on the forum and never made mention of my opinion up until now. Even though I still feel to this day the suspension I received was not for breaking a rule, but rather a moderator flexing, I recognize that reasonable people can agree to disagree. My opinion on the style of moderating only came up because it was stated that the original post about “being open” so took the opportunity to express my opinion about it. We have a difference of opinion on how things played out and that’s cool, but that’s no reason to paint things up and make them appear different. A blind could have seen what the suspension was about. It’s black and white no matter how it’s painted. When the color is gone, it is what it is.

I wonder if this method is mentioned anywhere in the instructions. Gotta respect Yamato for printing their instructions in Japanese only.

Forgot how cool the 1/48 Armor is after suiting my LV2 back up in its urban camo. Hopefully I can get Hikaru's VF-1J suited up this weekend!

Thanks for the info Dangard Ace. I Googled Golden Week this morning before I left work after posting the question. I'll check my account with OD later this evening. Hopefully it will finish processing. Just good to know that it appears they have not shut down for the week long holiday.

Speaking from experience, you don't have to do anything stupid. I'd knock on wood before saying that, or else you might find yourself on the wrong end of a mod's banning wrath.

This is definitely a Valk that I would want two of. It is drop dead gorgeous in figheter mode and looks kick-ass in battroid!

I work for a hospital and was put on alert for a possible Code Green (external disaster) this past Sunday afternoon after we received two suspected cases of swine flu through our emergency department. Our command center was opened as a precaution and preparations were made since things had reached a national level. Here is the simple and short of the U.S. being proactive with this situation. If this was to become a widespread pandemic and millions of people become sick, as a nation, we do not have the medical supplies, equipment (vents), or certified staff (respiratory therapists and pulmonologists) to support that number of sick people. There will be deaths. Not because the healthcare is not available, but just because there isn't enough to take care of everyone. Our healthcare system will buckle and it is scary to think about. I'm not saying what I think; I'm saying what I know. I work for a children's hospital and even with our patients having priority, chances are we would have to turn patients away. I think the WHO is wise to overreact so that nations can at least ramp up on supplies should the worst happen. As far as ratios with number of deaths with regular flu, you have to look at the number of deaths with swine flu and the relatively low number of people diagnosed with it. At the end of the day you are looking at a larger ratio of deaths related to the swine flu. Your number one defense against any flu is good handwashing.

Curious to know what you guys are paying for these in Japan.

What in the hell is Golden Week? I just ordered a boatload of shiggity from Over Drive. Maybe that explains why my order status is still pending...

Snatched the words right out of my mouth...

I beg to differ on the first sentence. As far as the second sentence, Ryno aside, this is my "openess" in reference to there not being consistency in mod’s behavior/style of/in modding. I agree with Taksraven statements. More than rules, I think there needs to be consistency and standards when it comes to moderating; particularly when handing down suspensions. Several of the moderators here do a fine job of walking the fine line of moderating. I commend them and have a lot of respect for their style of moderating, but there are a few who remind me of cocky police officers; the moderators, or police in this case, that usually show no restraint when they are irritated. These moderators tend more to respond, react and flex in the open forum instead of keeping a cool head. No matter how it’s sliced, moderating is a job and should be treated as such. As a manager in my job I have to keep a certain degree of separation between the employees I am responsible for. As a parent I can’t be friends with my child; I have to be a father first to properly handle my responsibilities. In my job I am responsible for several mission critical applications and I’m an administrator on the severs they run on. It’s my responsibility to assign certain rights and access to users on certain applications dealing with intranet content while others I simply maintain. As an administrator you have God-like powers in a sense because of things you can do. I could cause havoc in my workplace by shutting down certain communications, intranet content, and other critical content with a few keystrokes. Moderating comes with responsibility. Not to sound cliché, but I’m sure most of you remember in the first Spiderman when Peter Parker’s uncle told him that with great power comes great responsibility. Being an administrator or moderator on a hobbyist forum is not as serious, but I do think that the being a moderator on a forum requires a certain degree of separation between its members to properly “police” the forum as well as keeping their side of the street clean. As a moderator, your side of the street is not clean when a member has been called out in the open. I personally feel all moderating should be done privately when dealing with members who have violated a rule. As stated in Taksraven’s post, people naturally tend to become argumentative when they’re called to the rug in the open. I would never confront an employee I manage about an issue in front of their co-workers. Those types of conversations are handled in private and are generally better received in private. I recently had to terminate an employee which is never fun. I have to be able to sleep at night knowing that I have taken away a person’s livelihood. I find peace in knowing I did everything I could to help prevent the person from losing their livelihood before arriving at termination. With some consistency and standards in moderating policies I think any problem the forum faces with members violating rules would take care of itself from the inside out and there would be no reason for threads like this.

This one is really nice especially in fighter mode from the pics. Although I want it and will get it, I have a couple more 1/60's to pick up before I cop this. B-day coming up so I'm sure the misses will come through with something so there's a chance I might get from her. If so, I should be all caught up. Here's hoping I receive this one next month!

I’ve always thought Ryno’s banning was a bit on the silly side. There are rules and I believe most understand and follow them. I’m not sure what led up to the original ban, but I do remember the guy being excited about having a custom title; not even realizing the joke was on him. Once the joke went over his head it was made clear in the open forum that his “substantial” post count was due to spamming and things went sideways from there. This is a free and open forum with rules; understandably, but I think this was more about pissing someone off than breaking a rule. I was given a brief suspension once for comments made after a mod's reply in this post. My subsequent posts afterwards here and here ended with the mod handing down a temporary ban in his reply; not for breaking any rule in particular, but for what I have seen on this forum is some mods seem to get beside themselves. Some might argue that “calling a mod out” is a plea for others to rally behind you. On the flip side of things, one might argue that this thread being allowed to continue without any concrete evidence is a gross misuse of mod rights to allow others to substantiate suspicion without being accountable. From my understanding this thread was locked early on, then unlocked for some reason. It still has not been substantiated how it was revealed that this was Ryno, other than this thread being allowed to stay open for members to post their suspicions on it being him. I’m of the same belief as dnd; why not just let him post in peace and see where it goes. The short and sweet answer to that is probably “because I/we don’t have to”. If macross1979 was indeed Ryno I do not see the harm in his posts and have to wonder what this is really about. What does banning him and allowing this thread to carry on matter at this point if he is banned? It's a wrap so let's move on.

I'm curious to know has Yamato ever been on a roll like this in the past with releasing so many toys so quickly?