On "The Hydlaa Plaza"

[Waterman]

Let me go ahead and get this out of the way.  You all know me.  However, my other name is gone for good.  The reason for this being I don't plan on leaving this Off-Topic Forum and my purpose here is different...so I thought I'd get rid of my other name and the connotations it brings with it (positive or negative).  Should have done this a long time ago, but I have never claimed to be smart.

Ok, now on to my actual post.

Looking at the first page of this board, I see a bunch of threads of mindless entertainment.  Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, don't get me wrong.  Hell, one of them is even mine.  But I think this board is going to waste.  There are many intelligent people here, but where are the intelligent discussions?  Where are the posts made with thought-provoking comments?  There are a few, sure.  But all of these seem to be on the same subjects which quickly become heated and subsequently deleted (think religion).

But I think thoughtful discussions CAN occur here.  Though I might be one of the few who want this.  Sure things may get heated but as long as it's pertaining to the topic and not spilling over into other posts I don't see how it can be harmful.  There are plenty of topics to talk about, and personally I would like nothing more than to get opinions from people from all over the world.  You can't get that kind of perspective by having drunken conversations with your friends like I often do.  Education, drugs, cultures.  I plan on making posts on these subjects and more in the future (not necessarily frequently, I don't have a lot of time), but hopefully I'm not the only one to make threads/reply to them.

Which begins what I hope to be my "first" discussion.  Is The Hydlaa Plaza a place for such discussions?  Can the people here handle it?  Does anyone even care?  So what if things may get a little heated?  More work for the moderators?  Why are developer-mods even moderating this forum, isn't their time better spent elsewhere? (No offense intended on that last one, remember I am not questioning the ABILITY of the moderators...that is not my intention).

And my apologies if some of this post is confusing, it is getting late.

[neko kyouran]

I prefer the "silly" threads myself.  My life is already filled with enough seriousness as it is. 

As long as it falls within the rules set here I am fine with whatever.

oh, and to answer your question, karyuu's not in charge of this one, i am.  last I checked, I wasn't a dev. ... yet.

don't worry, your secret identity is safe with me

[Karyuu]

I was made a moderator long before I joined the dev team, so I still look over every part of this forum - it helps me keep an eye on the community, keep abreast of player trends and opinions, etc. I consider it very useful for myself to keep in touch, and the same goes for people like Xordan and Arianna. We don't have a team of Community Liasons who would work between the players and the dev team, and so while a few of us have the time and will to interact with people via the forums, we choose to do it.

I prefer that things not get heated at all here, so I will continue to ask people on the mod team to take care of posts that provoke others into headbashing. I want a calm environment where people don't feel threatened - it seems very utopian right now, but I keep hoping that this vision will be realized in time. There are other places on the net where you can debate any subject with willing and eager participants, and have as heated discussions as you want. This just isn't the place for aggressive posts.

This isn't to say that serious or thought-provoking subjects are unwelcome here. I'd love those! We will just continue to clean those threads up as any other if people cross a certain line. So post away :) I will look forward to some real brain-meat here.

[Feline Prince]

To be brutally honest. Its a game forum. A game in which most people spend hours hitting the same button, so high brow conversation is unlikely seeing as if someone comes along who 'doesn't get it' they can easily drag any topic down to their level with a few 'lol you guys think too much's and someone of the same demeanour continuing the thread in that direction. Though that is pessimistic I would love to see some thought provoking stuff here about pressing issues but unfortunately the 'serious' things are the ones that are most likely to hit close to home and so may become heated.

[Waterman]

I prefer the "silly" threads myself.  My life is already filled with enough seriousness as it is.

Maybe that's the difference then, because my life is anything but serious.  Mindless entertainment is boring to me...something that makes you think, however, is endlessly entertaining in my opinion.  Discussions on serious subjects do not have to be deadly "serious"...though they can be, I don't intend my future posts to be taken as that.  My posts will most likely bend toward a more "idea-based" nature rather then about things you see in the news (not that those are bad posts, I'm just more interested in other things).  It will just be a little different then the type of thing you see around here right now.

oh, and to answer your question, karyuu's not in charge of this one, i am.  last I checked, I wasn't a dev. ... yet.

don't worry, your secret identity is safe with me

If you say so.  I don't see anything pointing to you as "The Hydlaa Plaza Moderator", so maybe you can understand my confusion on that issue.

And it's not a secret identity.  Tell whoever you want to (though I'm not sure why anyone would really care), I haven't done so because it isn't pertaining to the topic.  And I'd hope that you would be one to stay on topic in this thread too.  The only reason I addressed it up front is because of you, anyways.

I was made a moderator long before I joined the dev team, so I still look over every part of this forum - it helps me keep an eye on the community, keep abreast of player trends and opinions, etc. I consider it very useful for myself to keep in touch, and the same goes for people like Xordan and Arianna. We don't have a team of Community Liasons who would work between the players and the dev team, and so while a few of us have the time and will to interact with people via the forums, we choose to do it.

Ok, fair enough.  In my opinion, you're the best mod here so I hope you know the question wasn't an attack on you.  It appears all of you have that part worked out, it just wasn't apparent from where I was sitting.  It just seemed silly to me to have people who were developer AND mods wasting their time moderating a board that exists for the sole purpose of NOT being about what they're developing on top of their developer duties.

I prefer that things not get heated at all here, so I will continue to ask people on the mod team to take care of posts that provoke others into headbashing. I want a calm environment where people don't feel threatened - it seems very utopian right now, but I keep hoping that this vision will be realized in time. There are other places on the net where you can debate any subject with willing and eager participants, and have as heated discussions as you want. This just isn't the place for aggressive posts.

But where do you draw the line?  I can understand posts about religion being locked, that is way too touchy of a subject and people aren't going to change their mind.  Though there is a difference between a heated discussion and an out-and-out flame.  One pushes the topic further and the other doesn't...is there a distinction for these, as a moderator? 

To be brutally honest. Its a game forum. A game in which most people spend hours hitting the same button, so high brow conversation is unlikely seeing as if someone comes along who 'doesn't get it' they can easily drag any topic down to their level with a few 'lol you guys think too much's and someone of the same demeanour continuing the thread in that direction. Though that is pessimistic I would love to see some thought provoking stuff here about pressing issues

There are many people here that I like to hear the opinions of.  Maybe they haven't been here so frequently lately, but that's not the point.  Sure probably the majority of people aren't going to care.  But really it only takes a few people, in fact too many people just make it a jumbled confused mess.  And yes, this is a game forum.  But I think that is perfect for someone like me who rarely plays games.  I'm not looking for people who are going to agree with everything I say.  Maybe gamers are unable to have an actual conversation, I doubt it, but I don't know any personally so I have no clue on that one.  We'll see I guess.

[Karyuu]

It's very difficult to give you a definite and objective set of what crosses a line and what doesn't. We judge each scenario separately, but the forum rules are the best reference you have when it comes to what isn't appropriate behavior on the board. Show good netiquette and you'll never have a reason to worry.

Generally, a heated argument is a passionate argument - it makes people think and want to share those thoughts with others, as they feel excited. An argument with flames makes people react differently - they feel insulted and provoked into a personal defense. That's what we look for as mods.

[hitancrias]

Generally I prefer a serious discussion above mindless entertainment. Too bad many interesting topics involve religion or politics in some way.

By the way, you made me pretty curious about your previous nickname.

[Feline Prince]

Well its worth a try I suppose. I'm interested to know what topics you have in mind that won't end in an uproar.

[Socius Rockus]

Can the people here handle it?

the waterman! Ohh! The waterman can! Cause he mixes it with love