06-08-2013, 12:48 PM
DISCLAIMER: While I did my best to be as unbiased as possible, please be aware I was directly involved in these events. This is a personal account of what happened. This was posted with admin permission. We feel it's only fair that everyone know what happened, not just from AZR's point of view, but also someone on the opposing "side" (me).
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Spoiler
I know a lot of you are wondering how, and why, Hex and myself became moderators. I know a lot of you are also wondering just what happened in the past few days. I feel everyone here deserves an explaination of events. Here is a basic rundown of what happened. I am going to try and type this as openly as possible, since A Zombie Riot is no longer here to defend himself. Please, do not attack him (or anyone else) on this thread. However, if you woud like to ask questions, or converse in an adult manner of the events, please feel free to do so.
It started right after the Xbox One was announced. A thread was made about it, and people posted thoughts on the new console, along with funny pictures and memes, which is nothing new to us. A Zombie Riot took personal offense to the funny pictures and mems, labeling them "incorrect" and things of the like. He changed to name of the thread to something I thought was very childish, so I called him out on it. He admitted it was childish, but assured me it "needed to be done". On several occasions I (and others) posted pictures and mems I (and others) thought were funny. AZR seemed to be the only one taking offense to them.
Around that time he also felt the need to delete a comment made by another member while they were in a presumably heated argument. I never saw the comment that was made or the context it was in, all I know it that it happened. As a member, that frightened me (and others) that he would not only change thread names to his liking, that he would also delete comments if he did not agree with them. At that time I sent my first letter to moderators. I don't know if I was the only one to send a letter at that time, but I do know I was not the only one to start feeling uncomfortable about AZR being a moderator.
Things (eventually) cooled down, until the Xbox One announced their new rules for the console. AZR posted a thread about it, which he copy and pasted the actual rules and regulations from the website. Some comments later, I posted a picture I found online that stated those same exact rules. He took personal offense to the picture I posted.
While that was going on, he was also arguing with Hex. She stated she did not want to buy the Xbox One because of all the additional things that come with it (tv and things like that) she would never use and didn't want to pay for. He immediately took offense and began to argue with her on her own opinions.
This is where things began to go downhill, quickly. Some of us (myself included) decided to bow out of these conversations. Even though there were fingers pointed at my and I was mentioned BY NAME, I stayed away out of fear of being banned or something by AZR. I sent another PM to mods and admins stating I did not believe AZR was fit to be a moderator, and while I did not want him banned, I would appreciate if they would look into de-modding him. Also, I was not the only one sending in PMs at that time. I was getting PMs myself, and also messages on other sites (for fear AZR could read our PMs- we weren't sure of mods could do that).
AZR posted an "apology" thread at some point after a bunch of us had PMed mods, and they said they would talk to him about it. That apology almost immediately turned into finger pointing, taking away any real apology at all, even though he only posted after mods talked to him and not actually on his own.
So by now he was not only taking personal offense every time someone said something negative about Xbox One, he was retaliating in a negative way to it and intentionally starting arguments with others, even at one point calling everyone "whiney babies". Somehow, he also started fighting with Xannidel, going as far as to give him a warning, for reason I do not see clearly. He then decided to make a new "rule", calling out myself, Hex and Xan as "trolls" somewhere in the process.
cingchris also made a post to state his personal opinions on the situation, attempting an adult discussion over the topic. AZR almost immediately began pointing fingers, saying everyone was "uncivil" for posting the funny pictures, and once again personally calling out Hex and myself BY NAME. Still, I did not defend myself. That thread also quickly got heated.
By now he had changed a thread title, deleted comments, given an undeserved warning, and made a new rule. On top of all of this, in the back of our minds we knew about that post he had made bragging about all of the forums he intentionall got banned from by trolling them. He had brought that negativity here and a group of us had gotten tired of it. Two members even confided in me that they were ready to leave the forums. I asked them to hold on just one more day. I am glad they did.
Myself and others send more concerned PMs to mods and admins. As this was a delicate situation, the mods and admins had to talk it over and read everything that had happened, which wasn't easy. I believe they handled it in the best way that they could. AZR decided on his own to leave these forums, before Petie had a chance to finish reading all of the threads.
Other, smaller, things happened as well, such as the "greater than symbol" and "drinking game" discussions. I don't feel they need to be mentioned in detail, but if you are curious, let me know and i'll find the thread/pages they were on.
This morning, I woke up to a PM from an admin asking myself and Hex if we would like to be moderators. They stated they had thought it over, and since we were the first to alert anyone to AZRs behavior (certainly not the last). We are also online quite a bit, and the site is growing, which is why they decided to ask both of us. I understand some of you feel two new mods were not needed, and I totally respect that thought.
As a moderator, I aim to make everyone feel comfortable about posting here. I believe everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and as long as everyone can discuss things without intentionally hurting anyone in the process, you have the right to say those opinions here. I myself get into discussions with people, sometimes quiet passionately. If any of you ever feel I am being a little too passionate in my discussion and you feel it's turning into arguing, please let me know! I will have no problem apologizing. Please know I welcome all PMs and emails.
If there are any events which I forgot to mention, or you have any questions about it, please comment or PM me. If anything else comes to mind, I will comment below.
It started right after the Xbox One was announced. A thread was made about it, and people posted thoughts on the new console, along with funny pictures and memes, which is nothing new to us. A Zombie Riot took personal offense to the funny pictures and mems, labeling them "incorrect" and things of the like. He changed to name of the thread to something I thought was very childish, so I called him out on it. He admitted it was childish, but assured me it "needed to be done". On several occasions I (and others) posted pictures and mems I (and others) thought were funny. AZR seemed to be the only one taking offense to them.
Around that time he also felt the need to delete a comment made by another member while they were in a presumably heated argument. I never saw the comment that was made or the context it was in, all I know it that it happened. As a member, that frightened me (and others) that he would not only change thread names to his liking, that he would also delete comments if he did not agree with them. At that time I sent my first letter to moderators. I don't know if I was the only one to send a letter at that time, but I do know I was not the only one to start feeling uncomfortable about AZR being a moderator.
Things (eventually) cooled down, until the Xbox One announced their new rules for the console. AZR posted a thread about it, which he copy and pasted the actual rules and regulations from the website. Some comments later, I posted a picture I found online that stated those same exact rules. He took personal offense to the picture I posted.
While that was going on, he was also arguing with Hex. She stated she did not want to buy the Xbox One because of all the additional things that come with it (tv and things like that) she would never use and didn't want to pay for. He immediately took offense and began to argue with her on her own opinions.
This is where things began to go downhill, quickly. Some of us (myself included) decided to bow out of these conversations. Even though there were fingers pointed at my and I was mentioned BY NAME, I stayed away out of fear of being banned or something by AZR. I sent another PM to mods and admins stating I did not believe AZR was fit to be a moderator, and while I did not want him banned, I would appreciate if they would look into de-modding him. Also, I was not the only one sending in PMs at that time. I was getting PMs myself, and also messages on other sites (for fear AZR could read our PMs- we weren't sure of mods could do that).
AZR posted an "apology" thread at some point after a bunch of us had PMed mods, and they said they would talk to him about it. That apology almost immediately turned into finger pointing, taking away any real apology at all, even though he only posted after mods talked to him and not actually on his own.
So by now he was not only taking personal offense every time someone said something negative about Xbox One, he was retaliating in a negative way to it and intentionally starting arguments with others, even at one point calling everyone "whiney babies". Somehow, he also started fighting with Xannidel, going as far as to give him a warning, for reason I do not see clearly. He then decided to make a new "rule", calling out myself, Hex and Xan as "trolls" somewhere in the process.
cingchris also made a post to state his personal opinions on the situation, attempting an adult discussion over the topic. AZR almost immediately began pointing fingers, saying everyone was "uncivil" for posting the funny pictures, and once again personally calling out Hex and myself BY NAME. Still, I did not defend myself. That thread also quickly got heated.
By now he had changed a thread title, deleted comments, given an undeserved warning, and made a new rule. On top of all of this, in the back of our minds we knew about that post he had made bragging about all of the forums he intentionall got banned from by trolling them. He had brought that negativity here and a group of us had gotten tired of it. Two members even confided in me that they were ready to leave the forums. I asked them to hold on just one more day. I am glad they did.
Myself and others send more concerned PMs to mods and admins. As this was a delicate situation, the mods and admins had to talk it over and read everything that had happened, which wasn't easy. I believe they handled it in the best way that they could. AZR decided on his own to leave these forums, before Petie had a chance to finish reading all of the threads.
Other, smaller, things happened as well, such as the "greater than symbol" and "drinking game" discussions. I don't feel they need to be mentioned in detail, but if you are curious, let me know and i'll find the thread/pages they were on.
This morning, I woke up to a PM from an admin asking myself and Hex if we would like to be moderators. They stated they had thought it over, and since we were the first to alert anyone to AZRs behavior (certainly not the last). We are also online quite a bit, and the site is growing, which is why they decided to ask both of us. I understand some of you feel two new mods were not needed, and I totally respect that thought.
As a moderator, I aim to make everyone feel comfortable about posting here. I believe everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and as long as everyone can discuss things without intentionally hurting anyone in the process, you have the right to say those opinions here. I myself get into discussions with people, sometimes quiet passionately. If any of you ever feel I am being a little too passionate in my discussion and you feel it's turning into arguing, please let me know! I will have no problem apologizing. Please know I welcome all PMs and emails.
If there are any events which I forgot to mention, or you have any questions about it, please comment or PM me. If anything else comes to mind, I will comment below.
