Scobienz wrote:It is safe to assume that Gavinmac doesn't want to show his face. The creep is probably afraid of becoming persona non grata if he's ever identified. It would be just like him to sneak onto 440 and delete or tweak posts just to get the event cancelled.

Unlikely. Despite all of our conflicts online he's introduced himself to me in public and we have shared the occasional drink. He's a bit of a fuckstick on 440 at times, for sure, but really he's not a bad dude at all in real life.

I still think he's a good guy. A little power crazy when you give him mod rights it seems (mostly i believe that's a product of boredom and wanting to show he's involved) but overall a decent chap. And I've harangued him both openly and in private over and over again about his over moderation... yet never once has he threatened banning or deletion from it. He's always taken in on the chin like a good sport.

StroppyChops wrote:

OrangeDragon wrote:I still think he's a good guy. A little power crazy when you give him mod rights it seems (mostly i believe that's a product of boredom and wanting to show he's involved) but overall a decent chap. And I've harangued him both openly and in private over and over again about his over moderation... yet never once has he threatened banning or deletion from it. He's always taken in on the chin like a good sport.

I'm genuinely glad you have a different experience of him. The Internet is my field of science, and my professional view is that he is one of the most unethical moderators I have encountered.

Wait, aren't you a teacher? Or a paramedic?

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I spent one night at the Irish pub next to the museum and ended up drunk and other stuff playing frisbee in the grass out front at 5am.

Scobienz wrote:It is safe to assume that Gavinmac doesn't want to show his face. The creep is probably afraid of becoming persona non grata if he's ever identified. It would be just like him to sneak onto 440 and delete or tweak posts just to get the event cancelled.

Actually the real scobienz has met gavinmac a couple of times. Decent chap. Unlike the dickwad who created this fake account to post pale imitations of the original.

In my opinion gavinmac has more or less single-handedly broken k440 with his ridiculously bad moderating. For me anyway.. It doesn't matter if he's a decent chap in real life. This is the Internet. Most people are friendlier/more pleasant in real life. Even I am. Believe it or not.. All that matters little though as many people will only interact on the forums. It's what you do on the forums that matter.

If a forum doesn't have a group of fair and objective moderators it will inevitably drive away a lot of posters that feel unfairly treated.

Who wants to spend a lot of time typing posts just to have them deleted without explanation? I don't. I'm sick of it. I don't want to have to agree with the mod or his buddies just to be able to post on a forum. I want to say what I really mean. I want to have discussions with people whos opinions differ from mine. That's basically what a discussion forum is. Had I posted this post on k440, the post would have been deleted at once. It would disappear without trace in an instant. That's not how a discussion forum should work.

Gavinmac is basically a "buddy mod". He moderates in favour of his buddies. He will delete posts that are not breaking any rules just because he doesn't like the content or because he thinks the posts could be offensive to his buddies. Then he will let his buddies break the rules without touching their posts. That is the worst thing a mod can do. In the end you'll end up with a buddy forum with a handful or two of buddies agreeing with each other, patting each other's backs, stroking each others egos all day long. Who wants to read a forum like that?

I sure don't. I want something more stimulating. I want to see input from all kinds of people. Even people I vehemently disagree with. As long as it does not get out of hand. I find that much more interesting and intellectually rewarding. In this regard I think 440 will have to make some major changes.. I'll still be reading it for sure, as will I read this forum. Most people will probably continue visiting both.

I think it's only good to have more than one source of info and input. And I think a forum gets the posters it deserves based on the way it treats is posters.

Hopefully being the force for good you will consider alternating the social meet ups between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville, or in parallel, to harmonise the demographic of the forum.

Forget CEO T-shirts in the future, beer condoms could be an easy, practical, fun and cost effective promotional momento, you probably know the guy in PP that manufactures them.

If I forgot to mention, my flight has been delayed so I WILL be in town