Posts by Samuel Perez32

Sarah Edwards38 said:What exactly makes it trolling? It was opened by a long-standing, legitimate member of this community whom I know personally isn't a troll. And what do you mean by "original"? Are you acting as some sort of lie detector or perhaps a literary critic? Furthermore, what do you mean when you claim it "serves no purpose in itself"? What is the purpose of a forum if not to host such discussions? I find myself wondering what specific utility you expect from these off-topic threads.

I find it quite curious how, whenever a moderator needs defending, the same small group of people invariably steps up to act as counsel, regardless of whether the moderator in question actually participated in the discussion or simply appeared out of nowhere like a sudden thunderstorm.

hollowtrucker77 said:logic doesn't work here; people just shut you down instead of engaging with actual arguments
😁
I find myself wondering why anyone would bother crafting a thoughtful response to one of your hypothetical scenarios in the first place.
If you pose a specific, concrete question, people might actually make an effort to provide an answer—though "satisfactory" is a subjective term, and it certainly won't always mean you're personally satisfied with the outcome.

To be perfectly candid, I have no interest in debating facts when this is more about temperament...

We both know that in nearly every grievance I've aired—admittedly, my comments regarding that Canadian fellow were perhaps more mockery than substance, though I suspect he took them to heart—I was ultimately correct. It seems there is an unspoken policy among you all to protect one another rather than objectively assessing the situation. As for why I received a permanent ban from >? It was because I flagged a thread containing 150 posts consisting solely of emoticons, which had somehow escaped being labeled as spam or trolling. My own posts were scrutinized under a microscope simply because I proved my ban was arbitrary, leading to a quiet directive to remove me from that particular sub-forum. It is quite curious how, despite being labeled such a "problematic" user, I haven't once drifted into spam or off-topic sections outside of my interactions with the small circle of regulars. Very curious indeed.

Furthermore, this entire thread, which has caused such a stir, isn't even an original topic; it serves no purpose other than to troll. Yet, since one of you initiated it, no one dares point out its absurdity, which only highlights a lack of integrity and equality toward the membership. You are essentially flexing your authority. But by all means, continue; it is your prerogative. Our role, apparently, is to wander into off-topic sections, act like trolls, collect warnings, and play the part of the subservient subject to the moderators. If that is the way things work here, then so be it.🙏

hollowtrucker77 said:Nicole Mitchell, you’re honestly becoming quite tedious with all this constant nitpicking.
Alright, we get it—you’re frustrated with the moderators, feeling overlooked, isolated, and generally unappreciated. Fine.
But please, I’m asking you nicely, go find another playground to haunt, because your posts here aren't adding anything to the conversation other than perhaps providing a bit of catharsis for your own bile.

I'll happily move on the moment someone provides a single reasoned, substantive response to any of my points.😍😍😍

If anyone else had started this thread, they’d likely be sitting in the corner of the banishment ward by now, but since one of you initiated it, naturally, everyone is playing defense.👍

steelskipper5 said:To be honest, speaking as an American, I don't see anything inherently offensive here. There are definitely some posts pushing the envelope—not from the author, but from certain users—yet it all feels like nothing more than good-natured ribbing.

This is a blatant provocation based on nationality that warrants at least a 30-day suspension, if not a permanent ban altogether. However, since the moderator is part of the game itself, there won't be any real consequences.🙏🙏🙏

Honestly, I find the moderators' lack of integrity quite staggering; handing out bans in a thread dedicated to trolling and mocking an entire nation is a poor look.

Yet, on the flip side, you see a moderator insulting the entire Slovenac population by belittling their stature, and there’s no repercussion—neither for the trolling nor for the blatant disrespect shown to other people.

It’s truly disappointing.

I should also mention, since things are bound to get heated over there... what he laid out in his opening post is essentially just a repackaged version of a story published a few years back; he’s simply tweaked a few details to make it look fresh.

But given his role as a moderator, we can't exactly call it trolling, can we? 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣

Roger Bishop22 said:The thread has been reopened... could someone from administration please provide an explanation?

If you revisit my initial post, the context should become quite apparent.

Every single post features a small report icon; just flag them for trolling. You can even do it repeatedly. While truth might earn you a warning, at least it keeps the staff busy. 😉

Furthermore, this "former" moderator continues to slide through the threads unnoticed—he’s still holding his position, despite the label. We really ought to take a page out of his book regarding how to navigate these waters, which is precisely why we are compelled to start these discussions ourselves. ☕ ... 😍

Roger Bishop22 said:I wonder if they'd just shut him down and issue a ban.//

If anyone else had dared to start this thread, they would have been slapped with a permanent ban without a second thought. But since the moderators are essentially untouchable—allowed to troll or act out however they please while the rest of us face the music—he isn't going to face any consequences at all. 😍
No point in arguing; on this forum, the moderators' word is law, regardless of whether they are actually in the right or not. It’s a futile exercise to file an appeal because you won't get anywhere with it...
👍

What kind of hardware setup would you recommend to get the most out of this version of Windows?

Donna Hill8 said:I find myself wondering how one might go about becoming a patient oneself.😁

All users who accumulate more than 100 red cards receive them as a reward for their participation on the forum. 👍

I can't quite pin down the exact location right now, but it seems to be some scammers sending out CDs priced at over $150—usually in bulk—then hitting up companies claiming they've already signed off on something...

It's best to just steer clear of them entirely 😉

You’ve already started a thread on the forum regarding them, if I recall correctly.

cosmicviper36 said:I was wondering, what kind of commission are we looking at if I wanted to send, say, $100?

If my memory serves me correctly, the fee is roughly $67... though I believe it's based on the specific transaction rather than the total amount. 🤷 It’s been a few years since I last used the service, so I can't say for certain, but that's how I recall it working.☕

Kevin Mitchell said:...

Not at all; if we find ourselves dissatisfied, we are perfectly free to seek out another forum—that was even my suggestion during a conversation with one of the moderators.

driftingdriver said:It is truly striking just how much—and what kind of behavior—is permitted on this board...

The reality is that nothing is actually tolerated here; we have a crowd of moderators who seem to have been appointed simply because they are buddies with certain users, and now they go around playing judge and jury with their bans... regardless of whether there’s any actual reason for it. I would venture to say that at least 70% of the disciplinary actions are handed out without cause, where perfectly reasonable people find themselves sidelined over minor outbursts. Meanwhile, there is a small inner circle that can do whatever they please, with posts that never face sanctions even when they blatantly violate several community guidelines at once.

Furthermore, the justifications provided for these bans are laughable, much like the points awarded within the system.

But since no one seems interested in changing the status quo, things will likely remain this way for a long time to come.

hollowtrucker77 said:Maria Thompson2, if you’re actually claiming this forum functions like a community in RL, then I’m genuinely curious—how exactly do you put a stop sign or a cop standing at an intersection on "ignore" in the real world?
Do you just drive right past them and then mutter, "screw you guys, just lock me up already"?
🙂
smart gave a perfectly lovely explanation there, but you’re just stubbornly pushing your own agenda.
And you know why? It's because you're only looking out for yourself; you have no trouble seeing a yellow card as a simple warning, yet you conveniently forget that it's much better for a moderator to issue a public warning when dealing with a whole group of people rather than just handing out ten individual cards like candy.
Of course, if they just handed out the cards, the narrative would immediately shift to how someone is just being punitive and handing out penalties instead of actually trying to warn anyone.
And here we go again—another round of this absolute nonsense.
🙂
And since I owe you an answer to that initial question: the software doesn't allow one mod to give a card to another mod, but that's easily fixed with a quick PM to the admin, provided the mod thinks it's actually the right or necessary thing to do.

If the speed limit is set at 30, do you actually cruise at 30? If it's 65, do you stick to 65? Most likely, in rare circumstances, yes... but generally, people don't.

And if a highway patrol officer catches you in that moment, they aren't going to give you a pass just because they like your attitude; they’ll hand you a ticket regardless of who you are.

driftingdriver said:- A moderator on the forum can issue a warning card to any user without any issues whatsoever.
- However, a moderator isn't able to hand out a warning card to super-mods or the admin; that's technically blocked by the system.
- You have to understand that the whole point of a warning card isn't to act as a punitive measure. Rather, the goal is simply to alert a user—or even a mod—that their specific post violated our community guidelines. The idea is to provide a nudge so that the individual doesn't find themselves making the same mistake down the road.
- In actual practice, we don't really go around handing out cards to fellow moderators; instead, we just delete the offending post and send a polite private message to let them know why it was against the rules. Moderators generally understand one another, and in about 99% of cases, they'll just offer an apology via PM and ensure the error isn't repeated. At the end of the day, the objective has been met. Isn't the true purpose to achieve a desired result rather than just focusing on the act of punishment?

So why isn't this standard applied to everyone else here? Especially when someone hasn't even had a major infraction prior to this, and there isn't even a pre-existing rule being broken.

To be specific, I ended up being targeted by a moderator named "Fisherman" because my signature included the phrase "faking shit." I posted it on the forum and was immediately slapped with a red card and a 90-point deduction, under the justification that "faking shit isn't a stamp, it's an insult." Fine, if that's how we're playing it. But then we hit a glaring inconsistency: that exact same phrase appears in the discussion threads—specifically in the BB section—well over 200 times. Some users have used it dozens of times without a single person being penalized. Once my ban expired, I actually received a PM from the moderator saying he wanted to let me cool off; he claimed he punished me because he "considers" it profanity, yet he didn't remove it from my signature because other moderators don't share his opinion. In plain English, that means my ban was completely arbitrary.

I feel like I was unfairly banned and docked 90 points for no real reason. Even if I did technically violate a rule, I wasn't the only one doing it, yet I'm the only one being held accountable. Given my clean record leading up to this, a simple private message warning me about the language would have sufficed instead of an immediate strike.

Ever since that happened, I've come to the conclusion that moderators act as if they are above the law. They hand out strikes and bans far too hastily, yet when they commit their own infractions, they seem untouchable. It feels like there is a double standard where they aren't subject to the same scrutiny.

I am all for having rules, and I firmly believe they must be followed, but those rules should apply equally to everyone. If you break them, you should face the consequences. I think the current culture among the moderation team is flawed; a moderator should set the standard for basic human decency for the rest of the community, and they should be held to the exact same disciplinary standards as any other user, if not higher.☕