Is that it seriously negatively impacts morale.
Instead of this execution/Robespierre model that has clearly been put in place by a previous administration, a clearer, more community building approach ought to be adopted. If mods must think of themselves as jailors, don't think of a penal system with a death row and escalating punishments leading to a 'final solution', think instead of the Nazis in The Great Escape.
You can't execute Virgil Hilts, but you sure can put him in the cooler for a week. He can do the time, and sometimes it's worth it. They don't call him the cooler king for nothing, ya heard?
There are others, like Archibald Ives, the mole, who just wanted to commit suicide. I mean, in that case, you have to shoot, but a guy like Virgil Hilts... well, he's just always going to have to push the limits. It's in his nature. It's his duty, and you can't expect an officer not to do his duty.
However, a fellow like Hilts (or a Roger Bartlett) is a necessary component to a healthy system. It encourages esprit de corps among both the jailors and the way-more awesome people who aren't (or, to equate this analogy to this silly online community, the mods and the way-more awesome people who aren't) simply by the constant conflict intrinsic to the relationship.
Anyone who likes a good story knows that every story involves conflict. For a story to even be a story, there must be conflict. To silence those that know how to safely create the necessary conflict for a healthy and vibrant environment kills the entire community. It irrepairably damages morale. It cuts off the nose to spite the face while allowing a select few to get drunk with power and banhammers. There are some antagonists that must be removed who genuinely have attempted to damage the site or the lives of members of the community. They legitimately had to be removed. We don't have to name them here, but Dancing Mustard was absolutely not one of them. Some people might throw themselves on their swords, like Ives, and just wanted to go down in a storm of bullets (like maybe bk barunt was recently, or a better example might be DaGip)
Dancing Mustard (Virgil Hilts) understood the rules of engagement, such as they are, in terms of doing no real harm while still having a good time. He left the white gloves on, if you know what I mean. I can't see how he doesn't just deserve more time in the cooler.
But regardless of DM, since his sacrifice may not be redeemed by the mods, we should pay attention to what this means for the rest of us. This means there is no recourse. There is no appeal. There is no hope. You will inevitably run afoul of the powers that be, regardless of who they are. They don't care AT ALL about any of us. What they care about is completely unclear, but they don't care about us, or else they wouldn't execute people that contribute so much.
This makes it very hard to fork over more money. Yeah, yeah, I've only paid for premium once, and it was at the 20 dollar rate. But it's really difficult to want to pay out more money for a site that I can't be sure will be consistent. If Dancing Mustard is going to leave the board, it should be on his own terms, that is, if I'm going to pay to support this site.
I keep hoping this site will turn around and there will be some kind of culture of acceptance and assurance that we are all apart of something larger than ourselves, rather than some system that will mercilessly squash me if I happen to annoy (especially if by accident) a bullying mod.
I for one think DM should be, at maximum, issued a one week ban for his recent "infractions" (spurious though they are), so the mods can save face by levying a long sentence, and we don't have to feel as if a blow has been dealt to us all. The same should hold true for all of us. Some of us now might be holding our breath wondering when the notice of a permaban is coming. That sword of Damocles malarkey simply isn't acceptable if one values morale in the slightest.
Please mods, go watch The Great Escape (well, the first 2/3 anyway). When you lock us up, put us in the cooler, not in front of a firing squad, huh?
The Great Escape. Part One of Sixteen
Just watch the movie you dummies. It's free and legal.
Mods, take notes. You're supposed to be cool guards.
the other 15 parts
