Hello all, just a few observations...

[Undertaker #59*]

First, I want to apologize to everyone for not being here much. Life got in the way. I am hopeful that I'll get more time in the future. I miss hanging out here every day. Anni and the rest of the guys have been forced to make some very difficult decisions to try and save this place and I feel guilty that I haven't been here to help very much. Anyway...


I've been reading some of the comments here and elsewhere and I just wanted to say a couple of things.

There are people that in one post are being very critical of additional moderation on this board, but then in another post talk about how nasty the conversation can get here. Well, you can't have it both ways. You can have the place very loosely moderated and filled with vitriol or you can moderate the flaming in the hopes of creating a better posting experience for the majority.

It is easy when a board is small to loosely moderate. But when it grows to a certain size, there are people that join that are incapable of policing themselves. I agree, self policing is what you want, but what do you do when so many stop doing that? Do you want the whole board to be a cesspool?

I know the changes seemed sudden, but something has needed to be done for a long time now. It started years ago with some of the best posters here leaving. Posters who really "got it." You want an enjoyable community, but do you just sit forever and watch really good posters leave so that the forum can "self-police?"

There is no easy answer to any of this. What saddens me though is watching people who have called this place home for years just pick up and leave so easily. Then they proceed to bash the Planet on another site and send PMs to others to come and join them. Really? After all this time and fun, this board means that little to you?


As far as the football only forum, in principle I have always been opposed to it. It is not what the Planet has always been about. But again, you eventually face a decision. There was so much fighting and so much socializing that it had become damn near impossible to have a football thread last very long on topic. It can be very frustrating to go and read football threads, and after 5 posts, all you find is inane banter. I love inane banter as much as the next guy, but in every football thread? Again, you have to make some sort of decision that benefits the most people.

The Circus can continue to be what it always was (without the vitriol), complete with football discussion. For those who don't want to wade through the off topic stuff in the football threads, they now have their own forum. Will it work? Time will tell.

Things will evolve. The opinion of everyone still matters. The political forum may come back, but not as the cesspool it was. I will always value everyone's opinion on what direction things should take though. Nothing is ever written in stone, and if people discuss things openly, then we can all benefit from it. I love the Planet and I wish I could spend the time that I used to. And I hope some posters will consider coming back and working to make the Planet the home it was and the home you want it to be. The community is what you make it to be.


Oh and for the record, the Planet, with the new moderators and all the activity, still only has 4-5 active moderators, and a total of 7. I don't know where this impression of us having a huge number of moderators came from, but looking around, much smaller boards have nearly as many.

 

[Muse]

Father is back................................somewhat







The dust is settling from this week, hopefully it will get easier



Good to see you we all miss you UT

 

[patsfanroach]

Thanks for your thoughts UT! I for one LOVE the changes. The football talk has been glorious! Plus if I want a laugh or even want to add to the banter the Circus is right there at the top of the football page! Welcome back!

 

[ParanoidPatriot]

Good to hear from you UT.

And I think the changes are for the good. As far as people leaving and sending PM to others, that happens a the other Patriots site also. I've noticed some leaving there and coming here and a couple leaving here and going there.

It is just going to take getting use to. Being a mod is not the most rewarding experience. And it's also a learning experience no matter how long you do it.

But I'm glad to see the clown back and hope to see you more as time goes on. I was afraid that you got locked in your shed.

 

[shirtsleeve]

I like cheese. Cheddar is my favorite...lol, yeah, I know you meant me and changed it to the code. At least you got it when I tried to get the vitrol to stop.

I haven't left. Not posting much and will not post in the draft forum till the draft, like always. I am one of the people who requested the draft forum in the first place, because one thread wasn't enough and draft talk is dry.

UT, after reading your post, its clear we agree in spirit. Its sad to see that spirit replaced by one of division and separation, making this place just another Patriots message board, which misses the whole point, and THE reason I posted here for the last 4 years. These same people who wanted this split dont even get right now, after its been made obvious that this is NOT a patriots message board. I would just hope these same people would be so kind if a bunch of Raiders fans came to them and asked to have our bandwith space for no to set up a mb....

So I will try to make my points clear by posting football thoughts on the 3rc. And not visiting the draft board till the draft. I just hope everyone remembers the community here is the point and reverts to posting football here again.

BTW, when I get home and try to post, the planet keeps indicating it has a virus. I have Antivir Pro, and it lights up with a page gen virus. Just thought you should know. Its just here, so I think its on your end and not mine. But I am not a computer geek, so thats why I have such a vigorous antivirus program installed..lol.

 

[tommysgirl]

Hi UT!! Nice to see you again and hope we get to see you more often.:kisss:



/continuing to refrain from commenting on The Change.

 

[cka203]

What a nice surprise, to come here this morning and see a visit from the clown!

We've missed you, UT, and I hope you have more time to visit us in the future!

I agree with your comments, and am thankful fans of other teams are welcome here, and treated with the same respect the "home" fans receive. This is the ONLY board I post on, and while the sense of "community" is what I love about this place, I don't have a problem with a "football only" forum for those who prefer straight football talk.

I also am glad to see some posters return and post more, and I too hope the Planet continues to flourish! I love this place, and it's members!

I do hope the PF returns at some point, but other than that, the recent changes have not bothered me in the least.

Kudos to the mods, for their perseverance. I know it's not an easy job. It's certainly not one I would want.

:kisss: to you, UT! Good to see and hear from you again!

 

[bishbash]

+100 UT and hope you are well!
Moderating can be far more of a PITA than those who haven't done it can imagine.
bish

 

[raven]

It's good to see you, UT. Hope to continue to see you around a bit, whatever time you have.

 

[harrisonhits]

<<
Life got in the way. I am hopeful that I'll get more time in the future
>>

Well damn you for having a life of your own. What does that get you anyway ?

Freakin' clowns.....

Maybe you ran up against a few of these and that's what slowed ya down.

 

[xpatriotpatsfan]

i think the way the changes were handled was what got most of the reaction rather than the changes in and of themselves. No warning, no input, just it's done. That method, imo, did more to disperse the illusion of community here than any of the changes themselves. Were changes needed? Yes.

Anyway, you could have just made this guy a mod:

 

[southcarolina]

There is no easy answer to any of this. What saddens me though is watching people who have called this place home for years just pick up and leave so easily. Then they proceed to bash the Planet on another site and send PMs to others to come and join them. Really? After all this time and fun, this board means that little to you?

I for one apologize for any bashing that went on. Tempers were running hot, and everyone said some stuff they didnt mean. As for PM'ing people, it was not and is not our intention to steal posters, only to give them an option. Patriots Planet and its staff has certainly never been adverse to taking in the disgruntled posters from other sites. Why shouldnt it work both ways? When i left here the last time, i purposely didnt tell anyone here i was posting over there. I had a couple of posters who later found out and were pissed i didnt tell them. Bottom line is, people are free to patronize whichever board they want. Or both. Or neither. Its a big ocean, and there are plenty of fish.

As far as the football only forum, in principle I have always been opposed to it. It is not what the Planet has always been about.

Man, i am so glad you said that, because there is so much revisionist history going on around here lately that it makes my head spin. This is the very fact that led me to start posting here. Let me say that again: If this had been a football only forum, i would never have posted one single time here. I had just left a football first forum, and was tired of it. That this forum could exist like it did was like a breath of fresh air. There are some who go around acting like this used to be a football-exclusive forum, and somehow us thread jacking assholes ruined it, and now theyve taken back their forum.

Why did i leave?

I for one just got tired of people implying, or outright saying, that i was ruining the Planet.

Thats why i left.

Ive felt like i was on a tightrope since i returned from my sabbatical before all this happened. Im not going to post if i have to feel like i have to check every post to decide if my idea of busting balls is going to be interpreted as an attack.


UT you know i respect the hell out of you. I would not have posted here today if you hadnt shown up. I hope that these changes work out for you. I for one dont think they will. But i have been wrong before.


No hard feelings.


sc

 

[Darth Despot]

I guess I feel the need to respond, if this is "bashing" I apologize in advance.

So why have a chosen to step away this week. If you've read my posts in "The Other Place" you have some idea.

I don't think the changes made this week are good ones. In fact I think they were awful. No attaboys here.

Football only

Splitting the forum in my opinion cuts right to the very DNA of this place. I know "One click away", maybe I'm just a whiner, but take a look at the new 3 ring circus this morning. I found 3 football posts on the first 3 pages. Just call it the OT forum and be done with it. I wonder what will happen when someone makes a joke about Peyton's forehead in a "serious" football thread.

Stage 2 is where the gravity of these 2 forums pulls some to "Hard Football" and some to "O/T". In 6 months there will be two completely separate communities with a dozen or so "duel citizenship" posters. That may be OK, but it's not the PatriotsPlanet I've been part of.

Rules

We now have an entire page of rules. I think we only need one. Don't be a dick. But that's just me. I don't envy the mods their inboxes a few months from now. With that many rules there will be about 200 reported posts a day.

Politics

For the last couple of years I've been a regular in that incredibly evil place that everyone hates but apparently no one can just stay away from. Is it a bad place, maybe, but there was a lot of substance there for those adept at navigating the swamp. As for spillover, in my opinion personality conflicts were going to be inevitable. Talking politics may have hastened a blowup but I really don't think banning the topic will prevent them in the long run.

Staying to fight the good fight

I wasn't aware this was open for debate. I posted my misgivings and the response was a respectful but firm "this is the way it is". It felt to me like "My way or the highway" so I gassed up the minivan.

So there it is. It seems the majority of folks like this. I don't, so I moved on. No hard feelings.

I generally hate the idea of a "goobye" thread because it closes the door on a return. Maybe that's what's happening here. I don't know. I'll keep my account. I'll keep lurking. If I'm wrong and this turns out to be the same lunatic asylum it always was in the past I'll be back.

 

[cka203]

I hope you hang around, BD. I really enjoy your posts, and I will miss you if you leave.

 

[tommysgirl]

I for one apologize for any bashing that went on. Tempers were running hot, and everyone said some stuff they didnt mean. As for PM'ing people, it was not and is not our intention to steal posters, only to give them an option. Patriots Planet and its staff has certainly never been adverse to taking in the disgruntled posters from other sites. Why shouldnt it work both ways? When i left here the last time, i purposely didnt tell anyone here i was posting over there. I had a couple of posters who later found out and were pissed i didnt tell them. Bottom line is, people are free to patronize whichever board they want. Or both. Or neither. Its a big ocean, and there are plenty of fish.





Man, i am so glad you said that, because there is so much revisionist history going on around here lately that it makes my head spin. This is the very fact that led me to start posting here. Let me say that again: If this had been a football only forum, i would never have posted one single time here. I had just left a football first forum, and was tired of it. That this forum could exist like it did was like a breath of fresh air. There are some who go around acting like this used to be a football-exclusive forum, and somehow us thread jacking assholes ruined it, and now theyve taken back their forum.

Why did i leave?

I for one just got tired of people implying, or outright saying, that i was ruining the Planet.

Thats why i left.

Ive felt like i was on a tightrope since i returned from my sabbatical before all this happened. Im not going to post if i have to feel like i have to check every post to decide if my idea of busting balls is going to be interpreted as an attack.


UT you know i respect the hell out of you. I would not have posted here today if you hadnt shown up. I hope that these changes work out for you. I for one dont think they will. But i have been wrong before.


No hard feelings.


sc

This post sucks like no other post has sucked.

 

[cadmonkey]

all is right in the world, the clown has come back to scare me again. God damn clowns!

 

[bishbash]

all is right in the world, the clown has come back to scare me again. God damn clowns!

 

[tehmackdaddy]

There might be a 1,000 members here who know UT better than me, but it's good to see him back.

 

[cka203]

I'm sad to see that we are still losing quality posters, like SC and BD.

I hope they all return.....

 

[raven]

As far as the football only forum, in principle I have always been opposed to it. It is not what the Planet has always been about. But again, you eventually face a decision. There was so much fighting and so much socializing that it had become damn near impossible to have a football thread last very long on topic. It can be very frustrating to go and read football threads, and after 5 posts, all you find is inane banter. I love inane banter as much as the next guy, but in every football thread? Again, you have to make some sort of decision that benefits the most people.

Man, i am so glad you said that, because there is so much revisionist history going on around here lately that it makes my head spin. This is the very fact that led me to start posting here. Let me say that again: If this had been a football only forum, i would never have posted one single time here. I had just left a football first forum, and was tired of it. That this forum could exist like it did was like a breath of fresh air. There are some who go around acting like this used to be a football-exclusive forum, and somehow us thread jacking assholes ruined it, and now theyve taken back their forum.

These two posts don't seem to coincide. I remember UT asking several times for football threads to stay on topic, and it was rarely, if ever, heeded. I don't know when you left, so maybe it was during that time. I don't see how asking others to be respectful of that ruins the forum.

The forum has been up there for about 3 years now as the draft forum. Somehow posters managed to discuss the draft without the OT; it's been changed to football without the OT :shrug: I don't discuss football much in the offseason, so maybe I don't see what others are seeing.

For the last couple of years I've been a regular in that incredibly evil place that everyone hates but apparently no one can just stay away from. Is it a bad place, maybe, but there was a lot of substance there for those adept at navigating the swamp. As for spillover, in my opinion personality conflicts were going to be inevitable. Talking politics may have hastened a blowup but I really don't think banning the topic will prevent them in the long run.

.

I recall UT asking posters to be more polite in there or some such and threatening to shut it down. He's been busy with other things, so I guess that got lost in the shuffle.


I think posters were going to be lost either way. As long as the ones who remain do so to keep the Planet going and have fun with it, it will probably be OK.