Well, most of the things I have to say have been mentioned in the discussion already, by Hec, Nutty, Consuela, and Robin. So I'll just dump the huge meara I was building to put in my 15 cents of kerfuffle worth.

I think the original points were very valid, and I appreciate the effort made to discuss them fully even when personalities got a bit spiky.

Oh I forgot to mention the other thing I noticed. Things seemed to be particularly bad in Bureaucracy last year mid-to-late March through early-to-mid April.

...

Well, there's...

...

But...

Nah, it's all covered.

Though I would like to point out that if you put me in charge, we wouldn't have this problem. You would all be radioactive zombie posters. And we would have wonderful threads like "Brrrrraaaaiiiinnnnnss 14: More bbbrrrraaaiinnnnssss" and "Words of the Master 27: Miracleman's Newest Orders" and perhaps helpful threads like "Zombitechnology 3: This Stitching's All Crooked".

Just throwing that out there.

What Hec's points said to me:

Matt's history of the Bronze

Suggests that some form of policing is necessary.

You realize that we already have this, right?

I should probably clarify that my cautionary tale of the eventual heat death of the Bronze wasn't intended to imply that we're doing anything wrong or call for more stringent policing than the current methods. It was a caution not to abandon the status quo in order to draw in more and more new posters. I tend more toward the dig a moat and raise the drawbridge perspective, but I objectively think that the current state of the board is a good compromise between drawing in new blood and respecting the wishes of those already present.

About a year and a half ago, I had serious and largely unvoiced concerns about the ongoing health of the community once its raison d'etre finished its run. 18 months later, I see that we survived Buffy's end just fine. The Firefly and Minearverse threads became vital touchstones of the community, focuses for a lot of new excitement and discourse. (And hey, it's not like Joss, and Tim, and Jane, and [insert your favorite Mutant Enemy writer or performer here] are going to quit making quality entertainment anytime soon!) The growing attendance at the big annual f2f and the proliferation of smaller regional f2f gatherings continue to forge bonds between groups of posters in meatspace, something that I think is very important and very condusive to long-term stability as the people here become more "real" to one another. The occasional spontaneous eruption of group charity, with Nilly's trip to America being the most recent and striking example, reassures me that for the most part our hearts are in the right place, giving the lie to stated concerns of the board being selfishly or unwelcomingly directed far more effectively than any refutation of debate points could.

In short, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. And in my opinion, it ain't broke.

Oh I forgot to mention the other thing I noticed. Things seemed to be particularly bad in Bureaucracy last year mid-to-late March through early-to-mid April.

Hah. On Echo, it's axiomatic that some huge fight will erupt in February. I think it's got to be a change of seasons thing.

Hah. On Echo, it's axiomatic that some huge fight will erupt in February. I think it's got to be a change of seasons thing.

The gods of rancour apparently hibernate over the winter. Alternatively, February-April is the season of my sibling's birthdays, so it surprises me little that conflict, anger and despair has since been woven into the fabric of things at that time of year.

Jon, Matt --

Just saw your posts after getting back from a late lunch. I recognize that we have policing -- starting with the informal, followed by group consensus on going further. I just saw in Matt's original post a cautionary tale that "anything goes" (not that we have it, or that I see us likely to go in that direction) can have consequences.

You know, the more I think about it the more I think that, in a text environment, people exist only inasmuch as they post. (This is thunderingly obvious to everyone else, I'm sure.) The reason why "the lurkers support me in email" is a joke is that lurkers are not people, not as far as the board is concerned. They don't post; they're not part of public discourse; they -- bluntly -- don't matter. They're as useless a concept as Nixon's "silent majority".

So...? I guess what I am saying is that, if you want to be heard, you must speak. I'm pleased that so many people have come out in the past day or so to say "I'm intimidated", because now we know that people are intimidated and maybe we'll all take that into consideration, consciously or unconsciously. But if you can't bear to say publically, "Hey, I'm intimidated", then as far as the board is concerned, it isn't so. Until you say it and make it so.

While adhering to the resolution to say your feelings without stepping on anyone else's feelings, which is the big mistake I think Rafmun was making all of yesterday. It's hard to listen to a plea to be more sensitive from someone who does not seem act sensitively at all!

Also, I realized in the course of the discussion that there is no public link to the Cheese Butt Book of Buffista Lawspeak anywhere. I compiled it, with assists from Sophia and Deena, and everyone seemed to like it, but it never got anything like ratified or formally accepted or put in an easy-to-find place on the site. It needs updating now, but once updated, what would you all like to do with it? I think it would be useful to have a formalized history of what we've decided on some of the major rules, not least to short-circuit the tendency towards confused summary in the middle of a het-up debate. But you know, I am also the one what wrote it, so of course I want you all to love it and call it George.

When you're having a shitty time, board friction is highlighted and can add to your stress.

Or sometimes just the opposite. When things are bad, it might put perspective on getting into a kerfuffle on line, whereas when things are good I don't want anyone raining on my parade. I've seen it go both ways for me.

Hah. On Echo, it's axiomatic that some huge fight will erupt in February. I think it's got to be a change of seasons thing.

Or for some of us, the fact that winter. Just. Won't. End. And I generally like Winter (though Fall is my favorite).

It needs updating now, but once updated, what would you all like to do with it? I think it would be useful to have a formalized history of what we've decided on some of the major rules, not least to short-circuit the tendency towards confused summary in the middle of a het-up debate.

I want to read it and have it handy.