Ack here, representing the moderators for an update on some stuff. As you may have noticed, we've had some drama lately concerning the state of the forum, certain members' behavior, and claims that the moderator team are running a secret cell of the Illuminati and quietly monitoring all of your behavior in a dastardly plan to worship the all-seeing eye.
Well, first things first. After much deliberation, Luke has been banned. We moderators prefer to treat people like adults and offer them many chances to improve their behavior; people just have a bad day from time to time, problems can usually be worked out amicably, and we really don't want to see good members tossed out because they vented in the wrong way. Unfortunately this doesn't always work because some people either think they are above reproach or simply have no concept of the feelings of others.
In this particular case, considering the history of the member involved, we went back and reviewed previous incidents from the last few years. Many of the mods had at some point been on friendly terms with him, though in recent years he seemed interested in prolonged conflict with individual moderators, sometimes going back to arguments months after the fact. Removing ourselves from the equation however, there was a history of abuse that we could not deny, particularly after a significant medical event which occurred several years ago:
*Complaints in 2013 that led the moderators to tell him to lay low and cool off for several days.
*Numerous PMs from moderators telling him to relax and not take his personal problems out on others.
*An argument in 2014 that resulted in the moderators temporarily banning him for two weeks.
*A warning over personal insults and attacks in 2015, which was then followed by further insults and harassing behavior.
During this period of deliberation, the moderators were also contacted by current and previous website contributors, members on hiatus, and members who have officially left the forums to complain about his behavior(and in some cases suggest that his behavior was part of why members left or were taking breaks). It was determined that, while many of us had been on friendly terms with Luke, he had become a detriment and the website as a whole was better off parting ways with him.
Now Luke had become a fixture here, and he may have intended to leave after the auction. But we felt we needed to act or we would be back where we were before. When we really laid it out and dug up the history we all looked at ourselves and asked, "Is there any other member that would have this extensive history of warnings, chill out, or take it easy PMs?" Unfortunately Luke made it clear to everyone in his recent posts that the chill out PMs were useless(his words). In the end, as the moderator team deliberated, he tied our hands for us; the choice became obvious to each and every one of us.
Out of respect for a long-standing member, Mike and Luke discussed the ban last night. Luke wasn't in full agreement but said he understood the moderators have to do what they think is best for the site. Mike chose to share Luke's closing statement:
Luke wrote:Thank you for sending some sort of message to the community for me. I want people to know that there are no hard feelings between me and to anyone on the site.
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Now, we have other things to discuss:
First and foremost, the moderator team has decided we are tired of the mod-baiting. In the wake of this drama, two more members have received warnings for bad behavior. We expect you to be respectful of one another and to act like adults.
Second, I intend to write up a post later this week explaining the current state of the website, the challenges we face, our work to revitalize it, the ideas we have already begun implementing. Times are changing, and we need to be looking ahead. We also need your help though; Racketboy.com cannot continue without your support.
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. This is a great community and I really look forward to being a part of it for a long time to come.
