What's going on at LJES?

On top of this sudden influx of new moderators who haven't even been properly introduced, they've gone and rolled out some new policy...

This used to be a place where we could just mess around and have a good laugh—sure, someone might get roasted every now and then, but it was always part of the fun.
Now, it’s reached a point where you have to overthink every single reply just to make sure you don't accidentally hurt someone's feelings.🤦

To give you a specific example, I actually got a warning the day before yesterday under the guise of "trolling," simply because my response to a thread was a little blunt. (And when you ask which part was trolling and they can't even tell you? That's just getting ridiculous 👎).
Give me a break... if things get any more sensitive, I'll just head over to Reddit or some psychology forum instead.
Most of the regulars still drop by occasionally, and personally, I can't even remember being active anywhere else since I joined LJES—well, until recently... but ever since this new batch of moderators showed up and started enforcing these weird rules, everyone has just scattered.😢
You guys are going to destroy this forum 🙂

As far as I understand the rules of the game, I always thought the moderators were here for us—to step in when someone crosses a line, not to work against us or force discussions to go in whatever direction suits them best.🙄

Now, if you think I'm exaggerating, feel free to check out LJES to see that I'm not the only one commenting on this... assuming @Delveccio hasn't deleted it all yet.

Thanks for the space to vent.😁

hollowmason64 said:It used to be a place where you could just mess around—sure, people might get roasted occasionally, but it was always all in the spirit of keeping things lighthearted.

I won't speculate on everything else, but this particular point is just flat-out wrong.

I don't claim to be some kind of "LJES veteran," so I have neither the ability nor the desire to group myself into some arbitrary "us" category—you know, the supposed group of victims that these "evil moderators" are supposedly persecuting for some shadowy agenda (honestly, invoking "veterans" or the "old guard" on an open forum like this is pretty much pointless). That being said, I think I can calmly argue that LJES is finally seeing actual moderation—not just in terms of steering discussions, but also in the sense of consolidating a million identical threads (which, I imagine, is a massive chore) and defining what the PDF community actually looks like.

LJES was never primarily a "place for good banter"—quite the opposite, actually. For a long time, it was characterized by a lack of restraint, a total absence of control, and, frankly, a fair amount of boredom, whether looking at serious posts or the "funny" ones.

Furthermore, those little spikes of "they're targeting us, we're fighting them" are completely baseless. As long as the rules of the game are clear and they are applied consistently, nobody is being targeted for who they are.

I bet you’d be pretty shocked if you realized how many people have actually smart things to say but just don't bother posting them because of you and your crowd. You guys turned this whole thread into nothing but a playground for mindless trolling. It’s all those people who drop one or two constructive posts, see them get drowned out by a sea of low-effort nonsense, and just decide to walk away. Now, this thread is finally heading back toward actual substance—you know, the kind of people who might joke around, but their humor is actually clever and high-quality, unlike the idiots who only care about being annoying. If you want your little "playground," go take it to the chat topic or some other off-topic garbage thread.

You honestly have no idea how exhausting it is for the vast majority of people to wade through what you call "good banter." And newsflash: the moderators aren't here to entertain you; they're here to moderate.

hollowmason64 said:I have to wonder if I’ve fundamentally misunderstood how the rules of this game actually work. I always walked away with the impression that the moderators were here to serve us—to step in and hit the brakes whenever someone decides to completely disregard the boundaries and cross every line imaginable. It felt like their role was to maintain order, not to act as an obstacle. Honestly, it feels more like they are steering our discussions in whatever direction suits their own interests rather than helping us navigate the conversation properly. 🙄

So, I went ahead and cleared out the chat history for you and a few others today, making sure to leave behind a polite warning and a quick note of thanks. I didn't do it because things were spiraling out of control or heading down a dark path—honestly, there wasn't even any real debate happening. It was just time for a little bit of housekeeping!

So, what exactly is the move here? You find yourself in the middle of a high-quality discussion—one where you actually have a golden opportunity to shed that whole troll persona and engage like an adult—and instead, you choose to drag the conversation down to a personal level. You start throwing jabs, claiming my posts are just too long or too exhausting to read, all while acting like you're too cool for the room. Is that your idea of being constructive? Honestly, I expected a bit more substance. 🙂

It certainly feels like the new moderators didn't just drop out of thin air with some arbitrary set of imaginary rules they decided to enforce simply because they felt like being difficult. We all know exactly what the established guidelines are and the reasoning behind why they exist in the first place. If anyone is feeling a bit lost, there is a dedicated chat thread specifically for the topic where we can clear things up.

I honestly feel like you’re just trolling at this point, and if I’m being completely honest, I think you might be blowing things a bit out of proportion.

wiredfalcon2 said:or maybe some other subforum like off-topic or the trash bin..

Oh, absolutely not, people like that don't belong in the trash section. My bad. 😉

That specific board has its own particular brand of humor. 😍

Why did I just get slapped with 10 troll points from brightridge59 today? All I did was reply to some guy asking if you can finish an oral session without using your hands. I literally just said

Yes ☕

If he had actually asked, I would've explained, but I don't know how to draw it for him. Since there are no hands involved, I couldn't really describe it either 🙄
So I wasn't trolling. Honestly, giving out points for that feels wrong because I usually write long, detailed posts. I even shared a little story on that thread 😍
I don't go looking for fights. I’m just hanging out in the LJES chat like everyone else. Now I'm only 5 points away from a ban, and I'm stuck only being able to post in the LJES chat because I have no clue what counts as trolling anymore. And I actually want to comment on things 🤷

On the other hand, there are tons of actual trolls posting all kinds of nonsense, and they don't even get banned—they just keep going. chicken robot LP

chicken robot LP ☕

A little trolling is just part of the fun!
Look, if I go a bit overboard sometimes—well, the LJES subheader makes it pretty clear what kind of place this is. It’s got its own specific vocabulary and, honestly, it isn't for everyone 🤷
.
When someone starts a thoughtful thread and I realize I'm talking to a decent, sane person who’s just caught up in some more or less serious life situation, I'll write a post to match... but when I read through a thread and realize the person on the other end is just some narrow-minded, crude idiot looking for attention—you know, the type who shows up for some twisted reason just to have us admire them or fawn over them—then yeah, I'm going to step on them, and I'm going to enjoy it 🙏
.
The way I see it, this new moderator policy—especially coming from most of the newer folks—is actually an attempt to change the very identity of LJES
. People created subforums for a reason; if you want to whine, go find the appropriate subreddit for that 🤷
. Back when I was dealing with my own private struggles and felt the need to vent, I went and spilled my guts over on Reddit or elsewhere in the US; I didn't come to LJES looking for sympathy 🙄
. And at the end of the day, people there knew how to shut me down too. Sometimes it really stung, but I never whined about it, and none of you can say otherwise. Not once, not even single time, have I ever come here to play the victim 🤣
. What I allow for myself, I allow for others 😉
.

OFF - @brightridge59/">@@brightridge59, I'm not going to get into an argument about why you don't like my comment regarding your post length. You aren't the first person I've said this to, and I truly don't understand what's wrong with asking if you could keep things a bit more concise 🤷
. Unless, of course, your ego can't handle the fact that not everyone enters a trance when reading your posts, where you quote like ten different messages and stretch things out over half a page across every single thread 😳
. But honestly, I don't want to drag that out here—my goal is for us to reach some kind of compromise regarding tolerance on my favorite corner of the internet 😍
.

Ashley Newman22 said:I honestly don't get why I just got slapped with 10 points for trolling from my favorite moderator, brightridge59. All I did was respond to this one post where some guy was asking if you could perform oral sex without using your hands, and I literally just replied with this:

Yeah, you can. ☕

It’s because I’ve already had to clear out the chat logs for you guys before, and I gave you a fair warning. You just chose to ignore me and kept doing exactly what you were doing.

@ hollowmason64

Look, that's just a conversation. Honestly, I'm done going back and forth with you on this. If you have any more complaints, please just take them up with the admins.

👋

brightridge59 said:Because I already cleared the chat and warned you guys. And you just ignored me and kept doing whatever you wanted.

@ hollowmason64

That’s what a debate is. I'm done arguing with you. If you have more complaints, take them up with the admins.

👋

I didn't even see that 🤷
I'm sorry, but I wasn't ignoring anything—I honestly didn't realize you'd given a warning earlier.
Now we've got trolls swarming all over LJES 🤣🤣

👋

Ashley Newman22 said:I didn't see that at all 🤷
I guess I should apologize, but I really didn't mean to ignore you; I honestly just didn't realize you had been posting those warnings earlier.
It seems like a bunch of trolls have suddenly swarmed the LJES forums 🤣🤣

👋

You make a good point—it's basically just local troublemakers, those thirsty chat trolls, and whoever else wants to jump in and cause chaos.

hollowmason64 - you started this thread, but I guess I’ve only seen this level of homogenization when police officers abuse their force, like when they beat some sixteen-year-old on the street and then continue it back at the precinct... and then, of course, everyone just sits there—from the police chief and the sergeant to the dispatchers, the press secretary, the deputy commissioner, and even the Secretary of Homeland Security—and they all just sit together and issue a single press release.

brightridge59 said:Because I’ve already cleared the chat for you guys and gave you a warning. And you just ignored it and kept doing whatever you wanted.

@ hollowmason64

Look, that's what we call a debate. Personally, I don't really feel like arguing with you anymore. If you have any more grievances, I suppose you should probably just reach out to the admins.

👋

I honestly think this is such a glaring example of bureaucratic communication. It feels a bit like listening to some poorly trained police officer saying, "Sir, I told you so, and if you find that unclear, please submit a formal written complaint to the Chief's office."

So, hollowmason64, if I may offer a little advice—maybe just close this thread and stop picking fights with the stubborn ones.

They have all the authority here, while you really only have your own wits and the desire to not engage in LJES discussions.

I guess we just don't really understand what the moderation policy is supposed to be or what they are actually trying to accomplish here on LJES.

That’s actually the whole reason I decided to jump in and start this thread. The way the mods have been handing out rules and infractions lately has basically scattered the community. Now, instead of actual discussions, you just get these weird little cliques forming around these ridiculous, pointless threads. It feels like no matter how much effort you put into being helpful, you can’t even come up with a decent response that meets their constantly shifting standards. 🙄

Honestly, @Delveccio, what kind of "constructive feedback" am I supposed to give when someone just pops in to vent because they're having a bad day?
The only thing worth saying to someone like that is to tell them to take a hike and leave us alone. 😂

And one more thing—is it really asking too much to politely ask a moderator to bold the specific part of my post that triggered an infraction? Is that such a huge request?
Double standards have never worked well, and they don't start working now. If the expectation is for me to be respectful, then I expect that same level of respect to be returned. ☕

Ashley Newman22 said:I’m honestly wondering why I was handed 10 points for trolling today by my aunt Eleutere. I was responding to this one post where some guy asked if you could finish an oral encounter without using your hands, and I literally just replied like this:

You can. ☕

If he had actually asked, I suppose I would have explained it, though I am not quite sure how to draw it out for him; I just don't know how to describe how to do it without hands. 🙄
So, I really don't think I was trolling. I feel like giving points for that isn't quite right, especially since I usually write such long, detailed posts—I even shared a little story regarding that topic. 😍
I don't get into arguments, and I just enjoy hanging out in the LJES chat like everyone else. Now I'm only 5 points away from a ban, and suddenly I'm afraid to post anywhere except the LJES chat because I'm not entirely sure what qualifies as trolling anymore, and I really wanted to leave some comments. 🤷

Then again, there are so many actual trolls who write all sorts of weird stories, yet they don't get banned; they just get to keep posting. It's like the chicken robot LP.

LP ☕

Ashley Newman22, I currently have 95 points; I wonder when those will be cleared?

Rachel Williams50 said:Ashley Newman22, I'm sitting at 95 points right now. When does that actually clear?

Why ask me? I'm stuck at 95 too. 🤷
No clue. We're just waiting on the 5 to hit for 🙂. We're basically hitting a wall here with the shooting range. 😂😂

Close this thread already. I don't want to deal with these trolls anymore. Moving over to an OFF TOPIC section. 🙏

hollowmason64 said:...now they've all gone and gathered together over there like some kind of "lizards"...

Now, this part actually interests me: we have roughly the same number of posts—in fact, I even have a few more months of seniority on this forum than you do—yet, unlike you, I don't see myself as some sort of seasoned veteran of the online chat scene who can look down from a high horse and spit on these "lizards," especially since I haven't even been at this for a full year. 🙂

The fact that I have a bit of a bone to pick with the "Oh, you won't find anything on the Internet!" generation—well, that's a completely different story. 🙂

Rachel Williams50 said:Ashley Newman22, I'm sitting at 95 points right now—any idea when those actually get wiped from my record?

You really ought to take a look at your "Infractions" section—it’s all laid out there for you. Well, I suppose I should say it's all laid out in red on white, rather than black on white. 🙂

hollowmason64 said:Look, @Delveccio, what kind of "constructive feedback" am I even supposed to give when some guy just rolls up and starts a thread complaining about how much his life sucks?
The only thing you can even bother writing to that piece of trash is on a tree stump or a tombstone. 😂

look, here's the deal—don't even bother typing anything. just sit tight and wait for me to go in and delete those brain-dead posts myself. 😲😲😲

So you’re basically doing me a solid and saving me the headache. Instead of me having to go in there and scrub, moderate, and filter through fifty different posts just to deal with one guy, I only have to deal with his single mess. Makes things way easier. 😲😲😲

p.s. don't sweat those rich trolls. we can shut them down in two moves.