@faraday said in Hello MSBites! Grade your administrators.:
Yes, some of us give a damn. We've just been outvoted. (to wit: look at the poll)
Although we've discussed this sort of thing in private I wanted to make a public comment here.
MSB isn't a democracy. If I thought not having a Hog Pit was the best option for us as a community then that's what we'd have now; no, what happened is that I was convinced to go that way based on the arguments made at the time.
At first what I was concerned about was censorship. It used to be MU* were heavily 'moderated' and I intentionally put that word in quotes; the truth is they were censored. Many still are. There are consequences for speaking against those who run them, which is a large reason why this forum exists - if there is something to be aired then it can be, and neither my views nor @Ganymede's or @Auspice's matter. The more we intervene the higher the chance someone will social engineer their way into ensuring certain narratives are less visible than others - as we are human ( * ). MSB values free speech - with very few exceptions ( ** ) you can speak your mind whether you like us or we like you.
But also the Hog Pit exists because cliques are a thing in this hobby. I don't want anyone having to second guess whose side we're on - because it frankly doesn't matter. That's not a luxury which, by nature, staff have on most game; they need to make calls, assign traits, bestow ranks and positions so their favor carries weight. On MSB it simply doesn't matter if we're besties since I, by design, can't do much to help you if you screw up. Yes, that also means I can't do much to help you if you're the one getting screwed over. But you don't want me as part of a clique and I don't want the appearance that I might to be in one, as there shouldn't be such a thing as 'forum politics'. We need to be peers or this system doesn't work.
Finally, I appreciate the honesty in this thread. I didn't ask you guys to evaluate us as human beings, just as administrators on an internet forum, and constructive thoughts are always welcome even (or even especially if) you disagree with some of the choices made in running it.
(*) Okay, two thirds of us are human.
(**) Come on, not being openly racist isn't too much to ask.