The Zaara and Iain Can Say Whatever They Want Thread

[Scott , Karsa Orlong]

Beste wrote: "she will be back tomorrow :) ."

That is not confirmed.

While I personally have nothing against Zaara this little episode had eaten up a lot of mod hours that we would all rather not have wasted. It takes a lot of fun out of what it normally very enjoyable when you have to be the big bad mod. I think as a group fantasy readers are generally fun loving people looking for an escape from the day to day grind of the real world. When something like this happens our escape becomes worse then the grind.

I think this all precipitated from the fact that Zaara while exemplifying that free spirit has a tendency to take things too far. I've read some of her posts and thought, and I say this for full disclosure not to be mean, WTF is she talking about? When a member called her on a clarification things escalated.

I hope you can all see where as mods our greater responsibility is to the group as a whole not to one individual. I do not think Zaara is a malicious personality. We're banned a lot of people none of you are aware of who within a few posts have shown their intent and all of their posts get deleted and their account privileges to this forum are revoked. If we didn't like her there would have been zero debate and there was a lot of it.

I do believe in the end she will be back on Monday however it wasn't unanimous and still isn't concrete. When each and every mod is fed up because of this shit show it is going to affect how we moderate and filter down through the community. Time spent on creating new challenges, asking questions of the day to provoke thoughtful discussions, commenting on BRs........that all goes away.

To be also clear it wasn't just this one escalation. Some of her runaway, steam of consciousness, steal the thread diatribes had us talking internally. Sometimes it's within the parameters of a discussion and funny. Sometimes it goes a few clicks too far and enters the bizarre. I know for a fact it wasn't just the mods who wanted it taken down a notch.

I hope this explanation suffices. It's obviously a powder keg topic and we always want to keep the membership happy but we can't have chaos either.

[Mayim]

It does. Thank you, Scott. It makes me want to start a "Mod Appreciation Thread". You do deserve our gushing thanks from time to time.

[Beste]

@Scott I'm sorry. It was my wrong interpretation of some comments. I didn't know it wasn't a concrete decision.
I just spilt my comments on the matter. Then when I read your comment I felt sorry again. Sincerely sorry if those comments caused you any trouble. You guys are going on a lot of things with all the threads here. It must be exhausting and I really appreciate it.

[Beste]

Mayim wrote: "It does. Thank you, Scott. It makes me want to start a "Mod Appreciation Thread". You do deserve our gushing thanks from time to time."

Agreeing :)

[Scott , Karsa Orlong]

Everybody close your eyes and imagine a campfire.

Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya
Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya
Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya
Oh Lord, kumbaya

[Scott , Karsa Orlong]

Beste wrote: "@Scott I'm sorry. It was my wrong interpretation of some comments. I didn't know it wasn't a concrete decision.
I just spilt my comments on the matter. Then when I read your comment I felt sorry ag..."

Mayim wrote: "It does. Thank you, Scott. It makes me want to start a "Mod Appreciation Thread". You do deserve our gushing thanks from time to time."

Your participation is thanks enough. I just felt the need to explain it from the other side because it's difficult when you know you're gauging a potentially unpopular decision.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I know I wouldn't want to be a mod... in general, not this group specifically... like a number of people said... I participate on Goodreads for the fun factor... and I don't participate the same amount each day/week/month... I like being able to pop in... maybe comment on a couple things (over and over, rapidfire), then disappear for awhile...

I almost feel like this thread could use a 2nd title change... it's really taken an unexpected trajectory... if Zaara returns, we should probably just start a new thread without all this baggage at the start... should any archaeologists happen along trying to decipher us (Is this a Malazan reference?)...

[Margret, Caladan Brood Face]

Thanks Scott, this summarizes what has been going on perfectly.

[Shaitarn]

I agree with Iain - who'd want to be a mod, burdened with running this group (not that this is a bad group - it's a great group)? How do you guys get the time to read?!

[Angela, I'm Silverfox lost]

Thanks for the summary Scott.

[Jenna, I'd be free if not for Temper & Edgewalker]

Thanks so much for that post, Scott.

[Scott , Karsa Orlong]

Zaara's account has been granted re-entry. We'll probably post something more formal along with behavioral guideline for the forum. Hopefully we'll never have to deal with this from an established member again.

Welcome back Zaara, happy reading.

[R]

That's that! Welcome back Saara. I think your friends will be very happy. Siobhan/Ian/Margret/Mayim/Beste:
I hope she will see this. Shouldnot one of you perhaps let her know? May not get alerted since she is not in the group. Doesn't seem to log on any more. Or not for too long, if ever.

[Beste]

Thanks @R that is very considerate of you :)

[Scott , Karsa Orlong]

I'm locking this. Fresh starts.