Hi all! I am a HUGE GBATemp fan. I may not post much, but I lurk like crazy. On here every day, reading all the threads, for years now. Hope I don't offend anyone (too much) by posting this but... the moderator Guild McCommunist is a troll with a capital T. People are entitled to their opinion, just like I am to this one, but when it comes to her/his posts they are 90% of the time hate-mongering, member-bashing, and insipid anti-Nintendo posts.
People with all opinions, be it those who feel Nintendo has lost themselves amongst the crowd and those who adore Nintendo to this day or even the screwball Sony fanboy or Microsoft diehard, are welcome at GBAtemp. That much is agreed upon. Yet to claim that GBAtemp is not primarily a Nintendo-centric website, whose very roots arose out of (illegal) GBA rom sharing, would be ludicrous. That is also certain.
So everybody agrees this is a pro-Nintendo website, which aims to allow for civil fanboy's from other teams. So why do we have such an outspoken and ornery member of GBAtemp moderating important sections of the forum? It is one thing to have an opinion, but Guild McCommunist not only often inserts her/his opinion forcibly and unwarrantably into conversations, but said opinion touts an anti-Nintendo rhetoric. I feel like some potential discussion should be had, both behind closed doors and out in the forum as to Guild McCommunist's importance and affect within the community.
Putting aside his/her seemingly anti-Nintendo sentiments, his/her delivery of those opinions is imho detrimental to the community as a whole. Even if you think s/he is in the right, you cannot approve of the way she disregards and insults fellow forum users for their pro-Nintendo beliefs. Normally this would just constitute simple forum trolling, but I believe in this instance it goes beyond that. Guild is a forum moderator, s/he has a designated title, logo, and all the powers her/his status confer to him/her. S/he is a representative of GBAtemp. His/her opinions reflect upon GBAtemp, in a good or bad way. If other forum members see that the leaders of the site have such vitriolic opinions, than they will assume that is what this forum wants. People who love and adore Nintendo, who will camp out all night for the Wii U and salivate over the thought of a new LoZ, will be recalcitrant to post. People who see this forum bullying as par-the-course on GBAtemp and anti-Nintendo sentiments as approved of will be more encouraged to post. This not only creates, in my opinion, a more harmful environment but also changes GBAtemps dynamic. GBAtemp is always growing it seems, and always embracing new members/consoles/companies, but I don't think anyone of the old members wants to see this haven of Nintendo gaming and console discussion turn away from the company and products they love. Lets embrace the new, but not dilute our past! Guild is a harmful weed within the overall GBAtemp landscape, a troll whose bullying grows stronger and unfortunately legitimate due to his/her status on this site.
I understand that forum moderation is not only a thankless job, but an unpaid one at that. A job with potentially countless hours of work, and little to no reward. I understand that and I appreciate all the effort that goes into keeping GBAtemp humming. Thank you all!
That does not mean though that I will keep quiet about my opinion, or that I should. Just because Guild is a volunteer does not afford him/her the right to be abusive. No matter how passive-aggressive said abuse it. I want GBAtemp to grow, to flourish, and to always remain the bastion of questionable but knowledgeable Nintendo gaming that it has been and should continue to be. If this website dilutes too much, what would differentiate it from the countless other bland gaming blogs/forums out there? That hasn't happened yet, and probably won't happen, but it is still important food for thought as this site moves forward.
I don't particularly know what should ultimately be done about Guild's actions. I personally would not be remiss if I never saw him/her again on this forum, but that could be just me. I do think that, if they stay here as a moderator, Guild's outspoken nature should be curtailed. Maybe s/he is a great behind the scenes moderator, I don't know. But do we need an emissary of GBAtemp being on the frontlines with our members and insulting/bashing said members? I hardly think so. It not only lessens my opinion of Guild to see such actions, but my opinion of GBAtemp as a whole. Why would they not only allow this to continue, but seemingly reward it with important GBAtemp powers/status?
Ultimately, I think Guild is just downright rude, and seemingly oppressive of other members opinions. Especially pro-Nintendo opinions, on a website founded because of Nintendo and about Nintendo Co. and its products.
Hopefully this reaches the right audience, and hopefully I don't get too much flak for this. I love GBAtemp, very dearly. Note how I did not mention any specific examples by the way, and in fact I have never even commented to Guild or possibly even in the same thread as him/her afaik. This post was not born out of revenge or anything like that, it was born out of continued and annoyed disgust at his/her actions.
If I am correct I do not need to cite examples in this case. Maybe I am wrong, but I believe that this is not the first time Guild's actions have been brought to the moderators/sites attention. Frequent visitors to this site know what I am talking about, and I don't think I am at all alone with my opinion here. That being said, what must it take for action to be taken? How many complaints?
Does Guild's usefulness outstrip his/her polarizing and aggressive personality?
Annieone23
A concerned lurker/member.
EDIT: Guild isn't a mod, but a reporter. My point didn't relate to Moderation abuse, just the seeming approval of his/her actions as a member of the staff, no matter how minor. As far as the average user is concerned the GBAtemp hierarchy is a tad messy, not that it matters if it works.
Also feel free to disagree, I won't take it personally, nor should I. I just wanted to throw in my publicly discussable two cents, wanted or not.
People with all opinions, be it those who feel Nintendo has lost themselves amongst the crowd and those who adore Nintendo to this day or even the screwball Sony fanboy or Microsoft diehard, are welcome at GBAtemp. That much is agreed upon. Yet to claim that GBAtemp is not primarily a Nintendo-centric website, whose very roots arose out of (illegal) GBA rom sharing, would be ludicrous. That is also certain.
So everybody agrees this is a pro-Nintendo website, which aims to allow for civil fanboy's from other teams. So why do we have such an outspoken and ornery member of GBAtemp moderating important sections of the forum? It is one thing to have an opinion, but Guild McCommunist not only often inserts her/his opinion forcibly and unwarrantably into conversations, but said opinion touts an anti-Nintendo rhetoric. I feel like some potential discussion should be had, both behind closed doors and out in the forum as to Guild McCommunist's importance and affect within the community.
Putting aside his/her seemingly anti-Nintendo sentiments, his/her delivery of those opinions is imho detrimental to the community as a whole. Even if you think s/he is in the right, you cannot approve of the way she disregards and insults fellow forum users for their pro-Nintendo beliefs. Normally this would just constitute simple forum trolling, but I believe in this instance it goes beyond that. Guild is a forum moderator, s/he has a designated title, logo, and all the powers her/his status confer to him/her. S/he is a representative of GBAtemp. His/her opinions reflect upon GBAtemp, in a good or bad way. If other forum members see that the leaders of the site have such vitriolic opinions, than they will assume that is what this forum wants. People who love and adore Nintendo, who will camp out all night for the Wii U and salivate over the thought of a new LoZ, will be recalcitrant to post. People who see this forum bullying as par-the-course on GBAtemp and anti-Nintendo sentiments as approved of will be more encouraged to post. This not only creates, in my opinion, a more harmful environment but also changes GBAtemps dynamic. GBAtemp is always growing it seems, and always embracing new members/consoles/companies, but I don't think anyone of the old members wants to see this haven of Nintendo gaming and console discussion turn away from the company and products they love. Lets embrace the new, but not dilute our past! Guild is a harmful weed within the overall GBAtemp landscape, a troll whose bullying grows stronger and unfortunately legitimate due to his/her status on this site.
I understand that forum moderation is not only a thankless job, but an unpaid one at that. A job with potentially countless hours of work, and little to no reward. I understand that and I appreciate all the effort that goes into keeping GBAtemp humming. Thank you all!
That does not mean though that I will keep quiet about my opinion, or that I should. Just because Guild is a volunteer does not afford him/her the right to be abusive. No matter how passive-aggressive said abuse it. I want GBAtemp to grow, to flourish, and to always remain the bastion of questionable but knowledgeable Nintendo gaming that it has been and should continue to be. If this website dilutes too much, what would differentiate it from the countless other bland gaming blogs/forums out there? That hasn't happened yet, and probably won't happen, but it is still important food for thought as this site moves forward.
I don't particularly know what should ultimately be done about Guild's actions. I personally would not be remiss if I never saw him/her again on this forum, but that could be just me. I do think that, if they stay here as a moderator, Guild's outspoken nature should be curtailed. Maybe s/he is a great behind the scenes moderator, I don't know. But do we need an emissary of GBAtemp being on the frontlines with our members and insulting/bashing said members? I hardly think so. It not only lessens my opinion of Guild to see such actions, but my opinion of GBAtemp as a whole. Why would they not only allow this to continue, but seemingly reward it with important GBAtemp powers/status?
Ultimately, I think Guild is just downright rude, and seemingly oppressive of other members opinions. Especially pro-Nintendo opinions, on a website founded because of Nintendo and about Nintendo Co. and its products.
Hopefully this reaches the right audience, and hopefully I don't get too much flak for this. I love GBAtemp, very dearly. Note how I did not mention any specific examples by the way, and in fact I have never even commented to Guild or possibly even in the same thread as him/her afaik. This post was not born out of revenge or anything like that, it was born out of continued and annoyed disgust at his/her actions.
If I am correct I do not need to cite examples in this case. Maybe I am wrong, but I believe that this is not the first time Guild's actions have been brought to the moderators/sites attention. Frequent visitors to this site know what I am talking about, and I don't think I am at all alone with my opinion here. That being said, what must it take for action to be taken? How many complaints?
Does Guild's usefulness outstrip his/her polarizing and aggressive personality?
Annieone23
A concerned lurker/member.
EDIT: Guild isn't a mod, but a reporter. My point didn't relate to Moderation abuse, just the seeming approval of his/her actions as a member of the staff, no matter how minor. As far as the average user is concerned the GBAtemp hierarchy is a tad messy, not that it matters if it works.
Also feel free to disagree, I won't take it personally, nor should I. I just wanted to throw in my publicly discussable two cents, wanted or not.
