Problem with current affairs

"Something that consumes a great deal of time, usually with little benefit; a waste of time."

I have already explained a number of ways in which Beasty could have reasonably reached the conclusion based on factual evidence that Francie is a timesink.

Morning, I'll deal with this first.

I have absolutely not shown any lack of respect to Admin or Mods personally & my OP observation spelled out clearly my objective concerns about CA & Boards generally, it is you and others who personalised this discussion in yet another blatant attempt at deflection.

Whilst some have perceived this thread as being an attack , I've seen it as an opportunity to discuss very important topics about the CA forum generally.

Mine and some others, primary concern has been a quite deliberate effort of 4 particular individuals (all well known ) who've been acting the maggot for quite some time & who have used some quite astonishing & shockingly similar tactics to deflect, Bait , slur, insult & send vexatious reports in against posters trying to actually discuss a Topic. I've lost count of the amount of vexatious reports alledged to have been sent in on me, all of which I swotted like an annoying bug & all connected to 2 threads.

Now Marko , I'm going to call out your whopper about our interactions , not only are you acting the maggot in that regard I can name 10 people alone on this thread who can not only verify my numerous interactions with you, but they too have had similar unpleasant experiences with you. Unlike others I chose to go on the defensive & saved every interaction with you & 3 other individuals also. So try to be a little more straight with folks here who may not understand the shenanigans that have been going on.

Good morning Marko 😏

FFS lads.. Page after page of bickering and long standing arguments derailing a legitimate point of concern.

I've an idea... Rather than either "side" taking the bait from the other, just don't reply or add the poster to your ignore lists.

Anyway... To get back on topic - if that's even possible at this stage...

This thread highlights absolutely the problems among SOME of the users in CA. Aggressive, baiting and trolling that continues the same pointless back n forth badgering from thread to thread. It's always the same posters who start it and suck others in, and it does go largely ignored - even when directly pointed out, yet others will be sanctioned for far less with the weak excuse to "report it" - if a mod has time to read and delete/action certain posts, they definitely have time to read the ones that those posts were responding to.

Modding on this site is a long standing point of concern on which numerous lengthy and reasonable threads have been created in the past, and then ignored by the powers that be. This exacerbates the problem. The site only works if people feel free to contribute, and just as how the nonsense above discourages that, so too does heavy handed, one-sided arbitration.

Equally then is the "appeals" process which I've often compared to a HR style escalation process (and generally just as effective given that HR is not there to represent the employees either). Threads like this one shunted into a corner to fit someone's imagined sense of order , or admonishments about who can post in it (you don't have enough posts, you're not the OP etc etc) and other such pettiness do not help the running of the site - quite the opposite. I won't even get into the problems of the Prison forum which only serves as a public ego stroking exercise it seems.

That brings me to the biggest point. Ego. It's clear to me from my interactions with him that Beasty quite enjoys throwing his moderating weight around the place. He doesn't like to be challenged or questioned, and will respond with petty frankly inappropriate retorts until he decides he's had enough of you and tells you as such. He also frequently likes reminding us all of his apparent success outside of Boards which I find frankly bizarre but again, it points to someone who sees himself as above all those he's dealing with - and not just in terms of the extra buttons or forums he might have on his screen.

Now to be honest, I don't care at all about what he or anyone else here does in the real world. I think it's good to have a cross section of people posting on the forum and ultimately we're all anonymous and equal posters in that context - except it seems that some are more equal than others, and THAT is the problem - both at moderation and user levels.

So, what would I do to fix it? I'm great at calling out the problems, right? 😊

First off, it's entirely inappropriate and likely unhelpful to Beasty himself that he is the one doing this work with only one other to support. More mods are clearly needed, BUT boards needs to widen its gene pool from the usual practice of selecting people with lots of forums under their name as it is.

Secondly, where its clear to see that posters only contribution is to bait and incite others, swift action is taken. Again more mods needed to help with this - as is presumably urgent fixes to the broken elements of this site preventing this.

Thirdly, drop some of the more petty and pedantic "rules" such as warnings to keep on topic if a discussion temporarily diverts to a related point that is still relevant (a classic example being Ukrainian refugees also involving points about Russia, Putin or other refugees in Ireland).

Enough with the chastising of particularly new users for posting their questions or opinions in the "wrong place". Enough with the big unwelcoming thread title edits or mod warnings pasted into the OP etc

Fourthly, everyone here, and I mean EVERYONE, needs to remember that this is indeed only a discussion forum as was pointed out by another poster. We all have things to say and we all want to be heard, but most of us are old enough and here long enough surely to be able to do so without the constant sniping and bitterness.

It's so exhausting to read, never mind respond to. Personally, I find that although I will definitively disagree with someone on one topic, I may find myself thanking their posts in another - the only exception are where it genuinely feels that the same posters move from thread to thread only to be contrarian and spark the same back n forth we've seen here.

Now... I'm happy to respond to the above and any reasonable posts regarding it, but can we please move on from the sniping back n forth and discuss the issues? I mean that sincerely and genuinely because otherwise what's the point of us being here at all?

Well said & you are 100% correct

I have to agree with this sadly.

And it is an experience that those defending will not have had. It's quite something and in my case culminated in a bizarre accusatory series of PM's for which I still have recieved no back up. Also, significantly, no permission to publish that accusatory PM here either which says a lot. The 'timesink' charge is largely 'me bollix' Beasty will hang in there in PM's until the bitter end (and he does get extremely bitter) I have observed that too in those exchanges and told him that he enjoys it.

He's well aware he can say what he likes privately and publicly and that is enough ammo for a certain group, mentioned below. As pointed out earlier the absolute state of his first two post here, playing to a gallery and not addressing the OP says it all about motivation and 'moderation'.

My relationship with Beasty began very well and I still have the cordial PM's to prove that. But as you say when it goes south you are only on the one road and again as you say, his joy soon comes abundantly clear.

As to the bickering here, I don't feel like standing back demurely Kaiser, as Dempo points out there is a group whose posting (across the forum) is designed to bully and harass, and it has been full on, on this thread. Every, against the charter tactic, has been tried, from deflection, insult, attempts to out reregs, to the most vomit inducing, holier than thou, 'butter wouldn't melt' style posting I have seen. If it was anyone else, they'd be threadbanned long ago but I guess they are required, they seem to me to be largely the only ones who don't see a huge issue on the forum - quelle suprise.

To be honest, these are outrageous comments, and they won't have the effect you hope they may have. Beasty has been very patient and hardworking, too patient sometimes imo. The posters at the centre of the OP wouldn't have lasted half as long if Devore was still around, and Ecksor? Haha, forget it. They wouldn't have lasted a week.

At the end of the day, two of the most notorious troublemakers in CA created a thread and conspired with each other to have a go at the mods and admins to serve their own ends. Then they are all surprised that they are held to account and their posting privileges are revoked. Cry me a river.

The fact that they still complain, and show no remorse or contrition tells us all that the decision is entirely correct and justifiable.

Lots of accusations flying around, but no evidence or proof.

Creates a nice narrative for the hard-done-by crew but alas, conspiracies ain't real-life Francie.

You are probably also somebody who arrogantly thinks they can say what they want and not get answered back. Am I right?😁

I answer back and I defend myself.

What's your point?

and back and back and back. It is no wonder beasty is tired of dealing with you.

mention of screenshots sounds like a tiresome deflection.

and you wonder why beasty doesn't want to deal with you.