Moderator Gotterdammerung's hysterical meltdown

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen moderator Gotterdammerung snap at someone on the "World Around Us" subforum. That section isn't just for experts—you’re bound to run into an amateur asking something that makes them look clueless, and she just can't help but let them know it.

Sure, the moderator has helped plenty of people clear up confusion, but honestly, it's weird to see someone lose their cool like that just because they got frustrated.🤷

A few people have actually complained right on the subforum, making it clear they stay away specifically because of her. Probably explains why the traffic there is so thin.🤷

Here’s one case:
A guy posted about how he killed a snake that his two-year-old stumbled upon in their yard. In the heat of the moment, he didn't recognize the species—panic tends to do that to you—so he didn't stop to identify it or even bother Googling the patterns to figure out what it was before he killed it. He uploaded a photo to the forum just to ask what kind of snake it was and if it was dangerous, so he’d know what to do next time.

Moderator Gotterdammerung’s response was basically this, and I quote:
You ignorant, idiotic animal.

Not even the guy's explanation—that instinct to protect his kid kicked in and identifying a reptile wasn't exactly his top priority—was enough to satisfy the moderator. She ended up calling him a special needs primate rather than a human being. Told him he was uneducated, mentioned we only have three venomous snakes here in the States, and said he wouldn't be able to tell them apart anyway.

Is it just me, or is this hysteria totally over the top?🤷
I feel for the snake, fine, but clearly the guy didn't kill it for fun—he did it out of fear. So why the meltdown?

The question is: What do we do about moderators who have zero self-control?

I think she might have gone a bit overboard there, honestly. Not everyone is an animal lover, and if they’ve never had any interest in them, they probably wouldn't even know what our three venomous species look like.
If it wasn't on their radar, they aren't going to remember it, even if they happened to hear about it once.

And as for that person acting to protect a child and everyone else—I guess most people, maybe over 50%, would have done the exact same thing in that situation.

If you actually typed that out, you’d be slapped with an instant ban. Nothing happened this time—maybe just a warning for trolling? But honestly, I can guarantee any regular guy on this forum would’ve been kicked out on the spot after two posts like that... it's a joke. Anyway, let's just wait and see if anyone else gets treated the same way. The posts have been officially reported, so now we just wait to see how the admins handle their team's work.

Only two posts?
If it were up to me, I’d be looking at giving this at least 100 points.

Matthew Wilson50 said:Just two posts?
If I were running this thing, I’d be handing out at least 100 points minimum.

Yeah, in the second one he calls him some kind of special needs primate—that's the other post right there.

hollowtrucker77 said:My apologies on behalf of the moderator—she’s a huge snake enthusiast and knows her stuff.

Thanks.🙂
I see she just picked up a warning, too. Look, the whole point of this thread isn't about getting the moderator Gotterdammerung punished—it’s more about her having to face some accountability. Honestly, I think she’d actually prefer seeing more traffic on SON and having a decent atmosphere here, anyway.🙂

P.S. Just because someone loves snakes doesn't mean they have to hate humanity.😁

Just so we’re clear—the following post is purely for the sake of argument. Since we’re all playing by the same set of rules now, right?

Rachel Martinez77 said:Some people have actually taken to the subforum to complain, making it clear they won't even step foot in there because of that moderator Gotterdammerung. That’s probably why the traffic in that section is so pathetic.🤷

I’ll always say this: if you think you can do a better job or deliver higher quality, then be my guest. Go ahead. In fact, I’m stepping away from SON today while you get installed in my place.

That doesn’t mean I think I’m the best; it just means you seem to think it's easy to coddle every single cripple who feels entitled to bark whenever they feel slighted.

At the end of the day, this is a forum—which, by definition, is a place for exchanging opinions.

If you don't want to hear what I think, then don't ask. Join some echo chamber with a specific agenda where everyone can just wallow together in a swamp of shared delusions. 🤷That way, you won't subject yourself to the unnecessary stress of dealing with someone who refuses to see reason.

Matthew Wilson50 said:If a person acts to protect a child and everyone else, they’re doing what any decent human being would do. In that exact same situation, more than 50% of people would make that same call.

That’s exactly the core of the problem. They just need to go in there with a flamethrower and burn everything in their path. You probably think the IUCN speaks in server language, too. 😁

Matthew Wilson50 said:They don't need to know what our three poison centers look like.

Do they really think they have the competence to just kill off everything that crosses their path?

hollowtrucker77 said:On behalf of moderator Gotterdammerung—who happens to be quite the snake enthusiast—I offer my apologies.

Don't even try it. Never. Please offer my apologies on my behalf.

Just because I got banned and stripped of my moderator status doesn't make anyone's actions any less foolish.

Regardless of everything else, you aren't my spokesperson, my lawyer, or my vote.

Rachel Martinez77 said:I see she just got a warning too. The point of this thread isn't to get the moderator punished, it's to give her a bit of a reality check. I'm sure even she would prefer more visitors on SON and a better overall atmosphere here.

Wait, am I really hearing this from someone who has, what— 11 posts on SON?

And all of them within my tenure (just so we're clear you didn't spend months posting before I arrived and then flee once you saw my "unfiltered" self running things)?

Give me 😁

At the end of the day, why do you feel the need to critique my work and play the role of someone acting out of pure altruism for the greater good of SON, as if you're some kind of Savior?

It’s a shame you don't post more often; you're actually entertaining.

Rachel Martinez77 said:P.S. A snake lover doesn't have to be a hater of Man.😁

Wow, deepness, go ahead and drop a few more empty platitudes. 🤣

If you’ll excuse me, I’m certainly not trying to play anyone’s lawyer here 😁, but I’ve been a longtime reader of SON and I’ve started posting there pretty regularly under the watchful eye of moderator Gotterdammerung. The threads she keeps going are just so engaging—they're educational, funny, and my favorite part is that even someone totally clueless like me 👋 can jump in, and trust me, I can't tell a snake from a garden hose, let alone deal with grasshoppers without panicking. 🙈

I’m going to stay out of the whole debate over whether her response was justified or not, because everyone who actually knows me (shoutout to my friends and everyone working behind the scenes at the studio 👋) knows that I tend to have a bit of a different way of looking at things. That being said, when it comes to 😳, despite my complete lack of knowledge regarding plants and animals, I haven't had a single conflict with her; if anything, I’ve always felt a genuine desire to learn from her. If I don't always express that perfectly, well, that's just on me. 🥳

Gottin is... unique, in an incredibly positive way. 😍 She’s been such a fantastic addition to SON, and it's a community I find myself coming back to constantly, especially since she took over. Anyway, that's all from me for now. Sorry for the unexpected interruption, but hey, that's just how I am. 😳 😁

Alright, let’s all just take a collective breath here for a second. 😁

I mean, seriously—the moderator Gotterdammerung called someone an idiot and got slapped with a warning. Oh, the humanity! 😲 Truly riveting stuff, isn't it? 👋 I can already see us dragging this out for months of pure, unadulterated drama. 👋

Honestly, if you guys actually give a damn about one little single (okay, fine, technically there are two now 🤣) warning, maybe go find a life or something. It's really not that deep. ☕

Sash, be a pal and just shut this circus down before I end up collecting a few warnings myself. 😁