I didn't agree with alot of things he said, but I enjoyed reading them. I struggle alot with my humour not translating into written words or being misinterpreted etc. So I've no idea if Electro was purposely winding people up or just having fun. RIP.
Thing is, I don't think either myself or James found
all of his comments particularly bad or wide of the mark, but it was the constant and never ending stream of posts that seemed intent on winding other posters up, taking threads off topic, or just generally being an arse. They had already had a temporary ban over Christmas because we were fed up of having to moderate the forum almost permanently just for them. They could have used this opportunity to change their posting style but they didn't.
Untill he is back with a new name. Electro wasnt his first name on here, and probably wont be his last
I think that is probably inevitable, but the only other member we've permanently banned is/was Chillee and they seem to have re-emerged with a different way of posting which doesn't seem to be as bad, so there is hope yet. If Electro chooses to come back with a different name and doesn't act like they did before then I don't know that it's a real problem.
Mainly for continual attacks on other posters either direct or indirect despite continual warnings and a temporary ban. Continually taking every thread off topic didn't help either and would probably fall under Rule 7 (Don't take the mick). Electro was more than capable of making valid points and observations but seemed intent on backing them up with snide remarks and put downs which was in no way conducive to the health of the forum. We don't want to ban anyone but when someone is clearly 'pissing in the water supply' we need to take steps unfortunately.
To add a little more to what James said, this is the 9th year that we've been running the forum and MNL and I don't think either of us have had to do as much moderating as we did/do when Electro is free to post. We don't make any money from running the forum, we do it for fun and to give fans a place to post things in more than 180 characters, oh and go through the pain of hosting and running MNL (With the incredible help of
@Nott Simpson and
@Russky of course).
We've always tried to avoid moderating the forums as much as we could without things going down the pan, which was one of the first thngs we agreed on after the debacle of the EIHL forums hosted and run by Bob Phillips and co. But Electro seriously tested our patience for continuing to run the forum, a temporary ban over Christmas didn't give them enough of a hint to change their style so now they have a longer ban.
I agree he was pretty negative and irritating but some of that is needed on these forums.
If they are going to be dominated by sycophants and Devil worshippers what is the point of it.
There are more than enough on here ready to jump on any one who upsets the sacred cows.
If you dont want to read him move on to another post.
@James has already replied, but I thought it was worth reiterating that if you take a look at Twitter during this season most people are complaining that the forum is too negative and they won't bother posting here. I admit I don't really understand this view, surely the way to change things is to get involved rather than sit back on Twitter and moan but there we go.
As for just moving on, normally i'd agree with you. But he tended to crop up on nearyly every thread that looked like it was going to gain some traction and almost without fail the thread would then derail and we'd have to end up stepping in and deleting/editing things. So moving on and ignoring his posts wasn't quite as simple as you suggest.
I for one, am not sad to see he's gone.
I'm far from a red tinted specs kinda fan, and sometimes even agreed with Electro on certain points.
For me though, threads would end up with 20+ pages full of people talking about totally irrelevant points brought up by Electro, and it would make the whole thread absolutely pointless reading.
I can completely understand the mods decision, as such action would drive some fans away from even bothering to read the forum. I would have been one of them.
This. We actually noticed a decrease in the amount of posts from different users when Electro was derailing threads and winding people up. Whilst we don't make any money from the site, we don't particulary want an empty forum all because of 1 or 2 users.
There is nothing wrong with criticism and I'd never seek to stifle it (in fact take a casual look on twitter and its full of people complaining about how negative the inferno is in general) it does however need to be done in a constructive way, or at very least following the rules of the forum. We are independent of the club and this ownership have never sought to influence or censure anything on here. In short, be as critical as you like, just don't be a dick about it.
If anyone is still in any doubt about the way we're currently moderating the forum, then click here:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Rule 7 and look at the top definition.
