blonde poker forum

Moderation on blonde Poker


In recent months several members of blonde Poker staff and the moderation team have referred to a perceived fall in posting standards on the forum, and several threads have debated this.

This trend has coincided with the moderating team having far fewer resources to keep the forum "just so" as mods have left and others have seen life commitments severely curtail their involvement in the forum. This has led, we think, to a widespread perception that the mods have "let it slip". Whilst in reality this is not deliberate, in practice there are instances where previously action would have been taken but where resources have left us unable to do so.

This trend has culminated in recent weeks with an upswing in deleted posts, with a number of posters publically challenging the mods, in some instances being openly rude to mods and on a more general basis a very confrontational atmosphere in a number of areas with posters "getting at" each other. In addition the incidence of "trolling" where posters do not necessarily insult or flame but nevertheless dramatically affect the spirit of the forum by posting incitefully has increased substantially.

This is a far cry from the ideals with which the forum was established by tikay and colleagues in 2005, as a civil place where people could hang out without fear of flaming, rudeness and trolling, the likes of which were very prevalent on the bigger poker forums of the time. Through time the blonde Poker forum proved successful at attracting a wide spread of members from all walks of life, from Poker Pros to recreational players and indeed those who did not play poker at all, so much so that through to 2009 it has garnered a membership base of nearly 10,000 and at times up to 1,200,000 page views a month from 25,000 Unique IP addresses.

It can of course be argued that poker forums have a "life cycle", that moves from a small band of early adopters through to mass appeal and then to a decline in popularity, with worsening standards along the way. We are determined to avoid that, but sadly have already lost a number of regular posters . As such we now intend to re-assert the core beliefs that were in place in 2005, and appear to be less so now. This might be a painful process, indeed we are beginning tonight with a small number of posting bans on certain individuals who posted in quite unacceptable terms over the weekend. No longer will we bend over backwards to avoid bans, as we have done to date, we will act more quickly, and determinedly to restore this forum.

Please note an important point. It does not matter how much you rake on the card-room and which moderators, staff or shareholders you count as friends, if you contravene the posting guidelines then you will be subject to the same measures as an unknown poster.

In the near future we hope to be joined by new moderators as we look to restore the moderating team to a full complement.

Thank you, and we look forward to working with you all to take this forum on.

Wow.

Is there going to be a code of conduct drawn up?

http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=25383.0

ban imo

;)

 ;applause;

This forum seems like it is becoming a primary school....as soon as someone gets a little bit out of line they get a detention...they will be asking for phone numbers of our parents next!

is tikay that desperate for a date? ;whistle;

Pics of the mums first, then we can decide whether phone numbers are necessary.

It's a fine line I guess trying to keep the friendly, community, atmosphere that has always (imho) set the blonde forum apart from others, without stifling the inevitable 'evolution' as new members join the site. I think the basis of what we had in years past is still there - we saw that at the bash in Leeds - that's the blonde I know and love, but it just gets drowned out sometimes I think with what appears to be a lot more in-fighting than we had in the past.

I'm sure we all appreciate that the moderating team have been running considerably under full complement for some time now, putting additional pressure on you all, so now seems as good a time as any to say 'thanks' again.  There ends my brown-nosing.

Also thought I'd point out that it's a full moon tonight, so hopefully calmer waters ahead :D

come on guys, its not that bad please lets not overreact!

you know i love the place but also like people to tell it like it is.

just cos someone speaks there mind or thinks different to the mods doesnt make it wrong.

over moderation will kill this forum not over zealousness!

ps

greekstein should be banned for life  ;D ;)

I think the difficulty at the moment is that the mods are well aware that old faces have deserted the forum, and cited their reasons for doing so as the change in atmosphere. It's a tough one - you can never please everyone all of the time - either you let everyone run riot over the forum (which a large minority would revel in) and leave the place to become more and more like 2+2, or you try to get the forum back to what made it different in the first place (which, again, would appeal to a large minority). I say 'large minority' in each case because I don't know where the views of the majority of the current active posters lie.

yeah i agree but most mods decided not to bother going and imo sent out really bad signals and has meant a right slide in this place.

Are people really leaving because of the atmosphere created by others? If so why? why does it bother certain people what others say on the forum? There are loads of things i read on blonde that i don't like or agree with, doesn't mean i'm gonna stop coming on here or posting.

the leeds bb was only organised to keep regular posters happy.some  shareholders and moderators couldnt be arsed to attend which was a shame as it was a great oppurtunity to pull the blonde community closer together.

And didn't explain why they didn't go, which has hardly encouraged people to remain.

(http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/6820/ironicjoke.jpg)

meant as a joke and tongue in cheak

Why not have an unmodded part of the forum where Flamers, trollers, grimmers etc can thrive away from everything else and where everyone else can say something without fear of being struck down by a mod who have been more prolific than an Edinburgh parking attendant recently.

Ban Boba please.

Thanks.

Rangers are crap, get over it.

so please name some of these "old faces" that have deserted the forum and that have publically stated its because of the change in atmosphere

Very sad it's come to this.

How difficult is it to post something which doesn't offend or upset other posters? It is very easy to banter with other posters without flaming.

I support the mods 100% and hope this move changes the atmosphere here for the better.

As far as I'm aware, no one has made a 'public declaration', they've just left quietly or decided to visit less frequently. I may be mistaken, but I'm sure I read on Tighty's diary a while back that he had had discussions with people who had decided not to frequent blonde anymore, and those were the reasons they gave. I'm sure he'll correct me if I'm wrong.

good post

this has been suggested many times by a number of posters only to be shot down immediately by the mods as "never gona happen"

a number of members are 18/25 age group which at times the mods struggle to understand.

the youngest mod is i imagine kinboshi he needs to connect more with this element of blonde though to be honest my 75yo mother is probably more hip  ;D ;)

i agree keith but im sure you have upset a number of people at times with some of your posts. not everyone reads everything in the light hearted manner it was written

I'm 99% sure I've never had a post deleted on here.

Had a couple edited to black out some colourful language but life is too short to deliberately upset someone just because you disagree with their opinion on an internet messageboard.

using colourful language is deemed as flaming keith i shud know if been banned for it lol.

anyway you've upset me in the past when ive backed one or two of your losing tips lol ;D

TBF Paul, The Mods have a brand to protect and having all out warfare on one of the boards doesn't fit the Blonde brand. Besides the flaming etc won't stay in the unmodded board.

PS The last line made me LMAO

I think you're right Paul that the mods team could do with one or two of the younger forum members on board to help bridge the gap a bit.

itl never happen claire.

so u never answered my question.

which of the "long term" members dont post anymore due to the forum atmosphere?

http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=24669.0

No need to thank me people of blonde, I have found our man.

I did answer

Id like to forward myself as the "Youth" mod.  Im 26 and feel I can reach out to both generations on blonde and bridge the gap.

bob fetta and claire (claw75) are they the same person? lol

sorry,  you've wooshed me there, although I can understand the confusion given that Boba has declared that he is also 26  ;whistle;

lol i thought u werent a day over 25 claire  ;)

u stated a number of long term blondes dont post anymore due to atmosphere on blonde. i just wondered who?

OK - I thought I'd already answered that. You asked who has left and publically stated it was due to atmosphere. I said, afaik, no one has stated that publically. I also don't know who has left for that reason as I'm not privy to the reasons anyone drifts off, I'm only paraphrasing what has been posted by mods beforehand, and have no reason to think that they've not been truthful when they've said people have told them that's why they don't frequently blonde any more. Presumably if people want it to be publically known that that's why they've stopped posting, they'd say so themselves on the forum.

that's brilliant, like some sort of time travel paradox

sigh - you know what I meant!

I have stopped posting

Pretty sure this happened in Back to the Future 2, i think the result of this is the end of the universe.

If only...

Il throw my name into the hat for this job too!

Getting the mods to understand "the youth" would only be a fraction of the battle. If the majority of members didn't understand them then it would still cause problems.

Ban for anyone over 40 IMO

http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=24669.msg501732#msg501732

Was this a brilliant piece of foresight?

or was he already the main shareholder?

its easy to quote without names tbh.

i could make all sorts of stuff up as long as i didnt have to produce evidence lol things like 95% of blonde think boshi is st8 or 95% think celtic is good at poker lol

Ban please, what a ridic thing to say, like 95% will ever think boshi is straight.

Not read the whole thread, just the OP but I find it kind of strage that was posted.  I have been in a lot of forums over the years and I always thought blonde was very well run and modded compared to every other place (haha thats not an arselick btw it is genuine opinion)

Jez

As a former mod - I'll tell you now it's a damn hard job and generally pretty unforgiving but if people are creating a certain mood then it's the Mods responsibility to sort it out.

If you want a 'anything goes' zone then go look at the Gutshot and see how awful it can be there, if that doesn't change your mind then go make a chatroom somewhere and pick your partner.

I have always liked Cos even though I've never met him but the idea that a one day cooler that got turned into a three day ban was enough to make him declare that he would no longer play on blonde or post on the forum seems petty. It's three days, get over it. Hopefully once he's calmed down he'll realise all his mates are still here and will start posting again.   

Oh and ban bolt.

Not been on Blonde in a couple of days as im in Spain, wow the Labour party took this place over fast!!! Pc facisim ftw!!!

some might say the 3 day ban was also petty.

The individuals broke forum posting guidelines. The moderators are tasked with keeping the forum in line with the community spirit and ethos established over four years. No decision to make a ban of whatever length is taken lightly, especially when we know that the flak from the decision will be there for all to see, and the moderating team regard the decision as entirely appropriate, and some regard it as lenient. Petty is most definitely not the right word.

Should tikay, who is the shareholder in charge of the forum, decide that he has no confidence in the moderators he will no doubt tell us. Until such time its a free forum, with our rules. Play by them or go elsewhere.

floppy used the word petty to describe cos's decision to switch his money from blonde cardroom to another as petty i think some might think that was an inappropriate word to use in that situation as well.

i always love the "play by them or go elsewhere " statement x

flushy for mod.

And also to leave the forum.

Look, Cos has been posting for a number of years and then gets a short ban (which even he admits he probably deserved) for one day which was lengthened to three days to which he declares he'll never post again - and if that's true it's a crying shame. But it was a silly fight over nothing, I'll call it petty because that's what I believe it is and I really hope Cos was 'blogging in the heat of the moment' and will be back on the forum soon.

And who is this 'some might think' that you're always harping on about? That's pretty vague for someone who says he tells it like it is. ;)

the same as the people who have left the forum due to "the atmosphere change" and are never named

He didn't get a 1 day ban lengthened to 3 days, he got a 24 hour cooler while we decided on the length of the ban, we decided on 3 days.

According to Cos, 3 days is so long that he has decided he will never post again, and yet according to EvilPie it should be a month, otherwise it's not worth doing.

who is the mod behind the "moderating team" name?
replies are to quick for them to be a collective view or statement.

so whose your money on?

In the last 24 hours, four moderators have posted on the team account.

Guess away, name a mod you are going to be right.

Jeez, who are they? I'm feeling whooshed without any definites.

I think from now on you can only refer to yourself as the person who tells it 'vaguely like it is'. :D ;)

boo you spoiled the game  ;)

We will know when it is ironside, proberly.

Most certenlee

Another good thread from Dewi.

^^^^^^^^

This one was Dan. I'll stake my house on it.

Who's Dewi?

is it tikey?

blonde poker legend, starts all the best threads.

Dan, Rich, Kev, Ginger. The only one's who care basically.

Iron cares but he clearly hasn't posted any of this coherent tosh ;)

Mis-read!!

I'll let you stay in my new house though.  As long as I can abuse it as a B&B far too frequently.

:D

dewi for mod?

nah, he's good at starting threads but has yet to show any skill in responding to them

This almost made me puke.
Geo

Is it not a fallacy to think the bmt account will stop like magic all the personal attacks versus mods that Tighty was talking about.

They are unacceptable yes, but I don't necessarily accept that bmt will definately end them. On balance, I only see negative of bmt.

BMT sounds too much like a sandwich imo and there is always a danger in the poker world that sandwichs won't be free.

;tightend;

I'm with Geo on this one. It sounds awful.

the bmt idea will last about a month, in 2 months time for sure it wont be used anymore

It's been around well over 12 months I think.

July 2007 to be precise, but it doesn't get too much use thankfully.

I don't really get why people seem to take such offence by people stating there are rules/guidelines and if you don't toe the line you will be banned.

If people work at my company, I want them to be challenging and outspoken when appropriate but if they step outside the bounds of what I find acceptable they're gonna get warned and ultimately fired. It's my company.

If people come to my house, my rules apply to young and old alike. I don't want someone being offensive in front of my Gran and since it's my house, I'll kick them out - it's  my house.

The mods here show an incredibly light touch... all things considered.

Some of the people who don't like house rules or keep testing the bounds of tolerance, could opt to just grow up instead and try to understand why some guidelines are better than anarchy.

Anarchy is a great concept until someone's 'freedom' limits someone elses.

As for people being missed to any significant degree or the place being the poorer for their departure - er.... very unlikely, like a hand being removed from a bucket of water, small ripple and very quickly back to the status quo - that's just how life is.

tikay?

OK, may not apply to heroes, and I'm not being sarcastic - the place is the poorer for his recent hiatus

The post Camel made about Hartson a few months ago was a fkin disgrace

It was alot milder than some the posts in the aftermath of Michael Jackson's death.

But, yes, I shouldn't have posted that, even though I believe what I said.

We can sit here and bicker all night about posts made by other people we feel shouldn't have been allowed, but that's what the report button is for.

I'll take 3 days ....could do with a holiday ;D

what an amazing thread you linked....who started that beauty...dewi?

Only really just read all this.

Agree with most of the bans, but plz bring back Scottish Dave.

 ;ashamed;

Is Dave banned?

norrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

(not a criticism mods, he probs had it coming but still... norrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr)

Afraid so, until next week.

Like anyone else recently banned, I hope he decides to come back on. 

yay, not a lifetime thang

 ;sark; ;sark; ;sark;

lol thats even worse, been around 2 years and 19 posts, im 100% sure it will be the same ratio for the next two years.

not that i give a shit its a poker forum ffs not the U.N, some people need to get a grip between real life and real and an internet poker forum we sometimes post on for fun

i said it about 6 months ago that every odd 6 months a crises is created(the earliest of which can be dated back to 2005) about: "blonde is going down hill and losing its ethos" etc and its reall just done to give some people something to do, theres nothing that makes people feel more important that when theyre handling a "crisis"(even a self made one), yawn! getting boring now, see you again in six months time when the mods want to be centre of attention again and come up with the next "blonde is clearly the biggest organisation in the world which makes us the most important(especially when dealing with a crisis) so everyone look at us please"!!! no thanks

i havnt logged in for 7 days and the threads i first see when i do are just laughable, 13 pages on everyone banging on about someones been banned, the mod team banging on about the site for 7 pages, and a thread about miss black uk that kicks off with red dog saying some shit like: "im not sure i agree with the idea of that" oh ffs, sure did bother reading the next 7 pages of that thread!

seriosly logging in and seeing this shit after not having logged in for a while its making the site look so self indulgent, arrogent and ridiculous its not even funny anymore.

FFS Tighty,where we gonna get our footy tips from this week!

(http://i36.tinypic.com/v4ceie.jpg)

From left: Universal Moderator; Cambo; Bandit; Fergus

Changed my mind, keep the blonde moderating team account because it pisses off bolt.

I would suggest you change it's name to the blonde global moderating team tho. plz plz 1 time

QFT

bolt's posts are rubbish now - they can never live up to the video message. I think bolt should be barred from making typewritten replies.

link to video message plz

It's bizarre but I agree with bolts post :) *goes to lay down*

it's on one of the kev vs cia cooking threads

http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=44765.msg1068326#msg1068326

pah he's deleted it

but it went like  this

"Now you lot are a bunch of fucking mugs mate

who cant cook shit its a fucking embarrassment

please stop fuckin cooking everything now mate coz u lot r dickheads

just stop cooking mate coz ur mugs

and also ban boldie, hes a prick"

I won't bother with my next question then, that pertained to Longy's signature.

I'm sure he said 'ban bolt'. but 'boldie' works too.

where is our hirsuite german friend anyway?

banned?


(Haven't noticed any threads asking for him to come back to the forum, ;carlocitrone;)

immigration caught up with boldie after barry neville tipped them off

Thought boldie was Dutch?

no - he's deffo a hairy german midget.

ldo - Dutch? 

Zis changes everyting.






























Ban Boldie.

def german. the dutch are taller and shinier