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Why do this? It’s a fair question. I decided to do it after the Mane had been shuttered for about two weeks. I missed the Mane. I think of the friendships I made in almost twenty years there, and I miss those friendships. I was with the Mane for the good times, and the bad. There were circumstances during the bad that will be completely eliminated here. Mainly, we will be able to quickly fix problems that arise. I will be here at least partially every day. If something needs to be fixed, I can fix it in real time. You cannot imagine how much difference that would have made with the Mane.
Why not just migrate to a different board? Also a fair question. To be honest, I just don’t feel as if I belong. There seems to be a tight group of long-term posters there. And we have had a group of long-term posters ourselves. To see them scatter to various Internet locales has been hard. Additionally, we have lost some GREAT posters and people over the years. The common theme I hear from them about why they left is just how uncivil everything became. I would like to invite those posters back to give us a chance. I think they’ll see some positive changes.
What kinds of changes? Well, first and foremost, the first rule in our terms of service is “Be civil.” We are realistic about the fact that there are going to be disagreements on any board. But it’s one thing to say, “Hey, I disagree with you.” And it’s another thing to say, “You are such a dumb shit! You’re just wrong!” There were some posters on the Mane who just became acidic to everyone they talked to. Those posters will be given a chance to change. And if they don’t, they will be invited to post somewhere else. I won’t trade ten great posters to keep one crotchety one.
Also, I like to think we can continue or reinstate some of the things that made the Mane great back in the day. JCMElway has already agreed to run the mock draft here. Someone in the offseason will run a Survivor game. We’ll do fantasy football here, like we have in the past. There will be tailgating opportunities. The goal will be to make this the community it once was, where people liked and cared about each other.
There will be a rep system, coming right out of the gate.
And you’ll notice what I think you’ll agree are positive changes in the way the board is moderated.`
Who is invited? Some thought has been put into this. At first, the thought was to withhold invitations to those who might have been troublemakers in the past. But the more we thought about it, the less we liked that approach. We have many, many more tools now to deal with troublesome posters. And some, if they act like they have at times in the past, will find their stay here to be quite short. But, as far as I’m concerned, everyone is welcome, and everyone will start from a clean slate.
Is the Mane any part of this? I reached out to TJ before I started putting this together. I consider him a friend, and I love and admire what he provided for so long with the Mane. I would have never done anything like this while the Mane was operating. It’s no secret that TJ’s life responsibilities kept him away more than he would have liked, over the past few years. TJ wished us luck, and even provided some guidance as to pitfalls to avoid, along the way. I would truly love it if he ever posted here. While this has no connection to the Mane, I obviously used a lot of what we had at the Mane as inspiration for this. TJ has plans for the future of the Mane. I am not privy to them, but I will wholeheartedly support them when he is ready to roll them out.
I believe that’s it, for now. If you have questions, fire away in the posts below.
Why not just migrate to a different board? Also a fair question. To be honest, I just don’t feel as if I belong. There seems to be a tight group of long-term posters there. And we have had a group of long-term posters ourselves. To see them scatter to various Internet locales has been hard. Additionally, we have lost some GREAT posters and people over the years. The common theme I hear from them about why they left is just how uncivil everything became. I would like to invite those posters back to give us a chance. I think they’ll see some positive changes.
What kinds of changes? Well, first and foremost, the first rule in our terms of service is “Be civil.” We are realistic about the fact that there are going to be disagreements on any board. But it’s one thing to say, “Hey, I disagree with you.” And it’s another thing to say, “You are such a dumb shit! You’re just wrong!” There were some posters on the Mane who just became acidic to everyone they talked to. Those posters will be given a chance to change. And if they don’t, they will be invited to post somewhere else. I won’t trade ten great posters to keep one crotchety one.
Also, I like to think we can continue or reinstate some of the things that made the Mane great back in the day. JCMElway has already agreed to run the mock draft here. Someone in the offseason will run a Survivor game. We’ll do fantasy football here, like we have in the past. There will be tailgating opportunities. The goal will be to make this the community it once was, where people liked and cared about each other.
There will be a rep system, coming right out of the gate.
And you’ll notice what I think you’ll agree are positive changes in the way the board is moderated.`
Who is invited? Some thought has been put into this. At first, the thought was to withhold invitations to those who might have been troublemakers in the past. But the more we thought about it, the less we liked that approach. We have many, many more tools now to deal with troublesome posters. And some, if they act like they have at times in the past, will find their stay here to be quite short. But, as far as I’m concerned, everyone is welcome, and everyone will start from a clean slate.
Is the Mane any part of this? I reached out to TJ before I started putting this together. I consider him a friend, and I love and admire what he provided for so long with the Mane. I would have never done anything like this while the Mane was operating. It’s no secret that TJ’s life responsibilities kept him away more than he would have liked, over the past few years. TJ wished us luck, and even provided some guidance as to pitfalls to avoid, along the way. I would truly love it if he ever posted here. While this has no connection to the Mane, I obviously used a lot of what we had at the Mane as inspiration for this. TJ has plans for the future of the Mane. I am not privy to them, but I will wholeheartedly support them when he is ready to roll them out.
I believe that’s it, for now. If you have questions, fire away in the posts below.
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