These thoughts are a little more disjointed, as they were originally focused on responding to comments from Ryan, but I think they are worth sharing (among other things, quoted Ryan statements removed)...
My contributions weren't the issue, and were clearly dismissed by those with another agenda. I predicted the results of the
Final poll in Mod. It cuts clearly across Blackhat vs CSP lines, with the silent majority (60-70 of the roughly 100 with mod access, not even voting no opinion).
If you followed the threads in Mod closely, you would know, that I have the support of ALL the primary Mods in forums where I actively post (and I work closely with those Mods). I do not have the support of those
with another agenda, who neither actively participate in my forums, or the other forums I actively post in. I am not a child of OOT... The forums have gotten too large for anyone to know what is going on across ALL the forums... In my post count thread and other posts in ATF, I try to close that gap in knowledge.
I post on 2+2 when I have time, sometimes I have more time than others, sometimes I merely respond to PMs and put up some quick posts, other times I stream out a lot of traffic generating posts. A couple of week/ends ago, and even moreso this weekend, I didn't have much time and my time on 2+2 was minimized. I was hung, without having an appropriate amount of time to defend myself, against a rehashing of year old issues. And when I took the time to reread and give thoughtful consideration to the old stuff, I was attacked for that... odd.
I put up a thoughtful sincere apology, and that wasn't enough... of course it wasn't... that wasn't the real agenda here. I told Mat that Friday that I would get a thoughtful post up on Sunday... he agreed... I did what was requested, after taking the time to
Diagnose the problem and resolve to find the proper cure.
Mat came up with the proper cure... 15% of my posts are in the Mod forum... I got involved in too many things there. Exile (reading but not posting), was a way to reduce my involvement in areas where I disagreed with my critics. It was and still remains the most thoughtful and appropriate solution. Removing me from my forums, goes far beyond an appropriate solution... the "cure" does not fit the "diagnosis".
I was Frist'd with a rider to the Degen ban...
what started all this a couple of weeks ago? The difference in reaction to
Did's post to Degen in ElD vs
Mat's reaction to censored's post in ATF. This leading to Degen's banning and my de-greening and losing my forums, at the same time as I was (among other positive contributions) saving 800,000 posts from being lost... all I can say is, unbelievable.
I'm not the only one that thought Degen was a quality poster... interestingly, Degen appears on ElDiablo's list of
experienced approved quality posters in ElD Forum. Nor was I the only mod to unban Degen last year.
I responded in the best way that I could, given the time constraints I was operating under. Berge best summarized the unreasonableness of the "respond now" crowd
in this post.
My exact Self Exile post was reviewed and approved by Mat. Seems a little unfair to judge me on approved actions. He requested time to see if that worked, and imo, should have been given the time to see if it did.
The more serious question here may be, why aren't Mat's decisions being followed by Mods with longer Rap Sheets than mine. Mods who continually have negative threads about them in ATF. Who, as felicia pointed out, and I quoted in
my apology post, engage in ModWars to the same extent if not greater than my participation, and in a nastier way. I am punished for adopting positions that have widespread support, but just from quieter mods and posters, who choose not to vocally get involved, for fear of being attacked in the way I have been.
If I had more time to devote to 2+2 while all this was going on, I certainly would have handled this a different way.
I still want to help in the ways I have, as well as initiating other projects I have been working on. My focus will also be working better with the other Mods, and being more focused on my productive dealings with the other active Mods, as well as with you.
I don't know what involvement you had in drafting "the proposal", but I was brought in late in that game. It is a good start that details some of how I will continue to help. But, as outlines in section 1 above, it is part of a three pronged approach I have taken to all of this. Which includes my continuing to fight for full reinstatement.
If we can find some common ground in all of this, then I would like to work with you on how best to move forward, to minimize the drama in the Mod forum.
to wrap this up...
I respectfully request that you give thorough thoughful consideration to all the things I've done here, regreen me and add me back to my 3 forums, and let's work together on the real issue of how I communicate with the few Mods that have an issue with my interactions in the Mod forum. If this was a situation, where another Mod took this action against me, I strongly believe that you would have overturned it, consistent with your past actions.
I recognize that my interactions with you in the past haven't been the best... I'm working on that... let's move forward together.
The past is the past (though I'm certainly willing to discuss it), it's time we got back to focusing on the Future!
Mat asked me (and reinforced it) when this started, to essentially start ForumWars... I declined as thinking taking this out of the Mod Forum wasn't the way to go, and I didn't really have the time to do it properly. Maybe an appeal to the posters is the way to go here, as I have received an increadible amount of support from them; maybe you'll give all of this due consideration and we can all get back to woking on improving the forums...
I await your thoughts on how to proceed in Mod!