Just thought I'd let you wonderful review people know, it is quite possible that
I am about to go head to head with one of the fabled MT mods. I'm getting to the
point where I am so sick of his sh*t and his damned arrogance that I just can't
sit idle anymore. Someone has gotten out of hand, and the fact that no one seems
to have done anything about it shows a massive failure on the part of the
administration of this site. He has squashed my ideas ultimately because he said
so. He comes in and deletes my posts and accuses me of mini-modding. He cares
more about flaunting mod powers on this site than actually doing anything
constructive with them.
I will also be sending a message to the admin of this site with a little idea
I've been brainstorming. I've got something that can really help the community
as a whole and I know that if I just put it in the Minitokyo section of the
forums, it will likely be drowned out. While the idea in and of itself is just
theory in practice, I'm hoping that if approved, I can find people who can
actually help bring it together. More on that later...
Needless to say, now that I've essentially decided to go rogue, if a line
happens to pop up through my little name here, you know why.
Quote by jakulitoLolz... I wonder who
got to it... Maybe didn't even thought about it reading it... like they just
went there and saw our comments and bam, bye bye whack
review.
That would be good if it was the case --- I'd like to think of it as "The
Power of the Reviewing Trinity" or "Dob in a Dud" (personally I
like the first one. It appeals to me as a planner on a power trip.)
@ Sho: Yes, I agree this was likely to be the action of one moderator. But I
don't know which one to give the credit, hence the use of the plural.
Lolz... I wonder who got to it... Maybe didn't even thought about it reading
it... like they just went there and saw our comments and bam, bye bye whack
review.
Quote: I've got to give the
moderators credit where its due, that was a good response time
IMO.
I'm going to split hairs here and edit that comment to say MODERATOR without the
's'. Quick action of one does not give kudos points to them all. Either way, you
have convinced me of neither jack nor sh*t.
@ Jak: Yeah, I did understand it - seriously. I didn't get anything of value out
of it though.
@ Sho: Well, the reporting worked and it appeared to be smited (or taken down
before it caused more embarrassment, depending on who got to it first) within 24
hours of reporting. I've got to give the moderators credit where its due, that
was a good response time IMO.
Quote by shoujoboyAgain, I refuse to
report a review. We've had a blistering pace of 4 reviews in the past two
months. If something does not come of this, or at least some reasonable
explanation as to why it is allowed to remain in existence, I formally wash my
hands of the wretched review system on this site. If any of you feel the need to
report it, then go for it. But I recommend we do what we do as usual with
commenting and let the rest play out.
I'm actually hoping I will visit this site within the next couple of days and
see a comment from the annoited God of reviews... or just that the review has
been laid to waste. But you'll have to pardon me if my pessimism has me
believing something else entirely.
Sorry Sho, I had to report this one as
retaining it would be a disservice to the MT community and an insult to those of
us who take reviewing even remotely seriously. I was laughing out loud
throughout reading it with the inane commentary and, I'll admit, I did find it
humourous at times. However, I did make the comment that the reviewer in
question should do us a favour and take it down.
On another note, the front page has been graced by another MT worthy review. I
had brain cells actually explode. But this actually works out quite nicely.
Again, I refuse to report a review. We've had a blistering pace of 4 reviews in
the past two months. If something does not come of this, or at least some
reasonable explanation as to why it is allowed to remain in existence, I
formally wash my hands of the wretched review system on this site. If any of you
feel the need to report it, then go for it. But I recommend we do what we do as
usual with commenting and let the rest play out.
I'm actually hoping I will visit this site within the next couple of days and
see a comment from the annoited God of reviews... or just that the review has
been laid to waste. But you'll have to pardon me if my pessimism has me
believing something else entirely.
Hey I might crack on you guys, but notice throughout most of my posts in the
past, the person I pick on most is myself. I only know you guys from this
guestbook, I know myself all to well and I can say without a doubt... I totally
suck. I think Jak can attest to that... right?
Quote by shoujoboyDon't get me wrong, I
generally like all the people in this group (cept Maplerose who shoots me down,
Jak who just generally sucks and YOU David for making me look like a yokel
everytime you write). It's just that while we do have these guestbook chats, it
really is pretty minimal. Most members never say a word and the few remaining
ones are fairly active and then drop off for a while, then come
back.
ROFL! Love it! Only you may get away with dissing the few members of the group
who are fairly active (although Maple's been rather quiet as of late - must be
school, work, college or something). You are right, though, where we might pop
our heads in for a quick chat before getting back to reality for a long time.
Not that we're antisocial or anything, but we tend to be efficient with our
writing - no excess verbosity on all sorts of crap (unlike other groups). Maybe
we save ourselves up for a splash when we submit a review and then we're out of
the proverbial pool very quickly (don't want to get a virus or spam or
anything).
Don't get me wrong, I generally like all the people in this group (cept
Maplerose who shoots me down, Jak who just generally sucks and YOU David for
making me look like a yokel everytime you write). It's just that while we do
have these guestbook chats, it really is pretty minimal. Most members never say
a word and the few remaining ones are fairly active and then drop off for a
while, then come back.
Maybe it was my undoing to not be involved maybe with other online communities.
The saying "don't put all your eggs in to one basket" comes to mind. I
suppose the mindset was come in, contribute, mingle a bit and then maybe I would
find more of a reason to hang around.
I hope this isn't coming off as a "oh God, please be my friend" cause
it isn't so much that. I mean I got to know Jak from this site, and we talk
pretty often (just don't ask about what) and I have got a degree of notoriety
from writing, but I guess I see it as effort in does not equal reward out. I
think what ultimately needs to happen is, I need to step the hell away from my
computer and get out more. But damnit I hate the sun and refuse to drink
alcohol... so what's a guy to do?
Quote by shoujoboyTo find enough people
who were intelligent enough to actually discuss serious matters with as well as
the not so important topics. The ones who would take the time to write a review
and would be open to all criticisms. So the little things I would do from
commenting on reviews, sending PM's to people doing things wrong on the forums
and at times attempting to quell rampant idiocy on certain topics, were to at
least create a subset of quality members.
I'd like to think you found at least some of them - even if its only in this
particular group <grin>. Suffice it to say I always liked to read your feedback on my reviews. It meant that
at least someone was reading them carefully and was willing to critique my
opinions. That sort of thing always makes for good debate, and I appreciate your
efforts.
Quote by shoujoboyI mean I find it sad
that when you go into forums, you know exactly what you are going to find.
Favorites threads for any of the anime or gaming forums. Emo kids encouraging
other emo kids in Lamentations. Flame wars in the religion portion with the same
members. But I blame myself for expecting much more than I should have from a
website of this ilk.
Agreed. It is for that simple reason that I avoid the forums entirely. I could
count on two hands the number of replies I've put up in the forums, and they
generally relate to the Computers and Internet section (which I have a modest
interest in). If some members are going to be shallow about their threads
(favourite things, emo discussions, etc.), I don't even want to degrade my
opinions in such trivialities. Don't blame yourself for expecting more - be
pleased that you have high standards. If the community isn't up to scratch, then
maybe it is time to move on. For me, I like certain parts of the MT community,
present company included. As for the rest, I don't give a rat's ass about it.
I see your points, but maybe my problem is that I'm too self-centered. I simply
see most of the MT community as a pile of garbage. Most people would rather put
pointless replies in threads or throw together fanboy rantings and call them
reviews. They thrive on "favorites" threads and the idiot games in the
chat lounge. They create groups for current fads and then let them die in no
time. So my goal in a sense, was to create at least a community within the
community that really made my time worth spending here.
To find enough people who were intelligent enough to actually discuss serious
matters with as well as the not so important topics. The ones who would take the
time to write a review and would be open to all criticisms. So the little things
I would do from commenting on reviews, sending PM's to people doing things wrong
on the forums and at times attempting to quell rampant idiocy on certain topics,
were to at least create a subset of quality members.
I mean I find it sad that when you go into forums, you know exactly what you are
going to find. Favorites threads for any of the anime or gaming forums. Emo kids
encouraging other emo kids in Lamentations. Flame wars in the religion portion
with the same members. But I blame myself for expecting much more than I should
have from a website of this ilk.
So yea, essentially I wanted to create my own niche of people with whom I didn't
mind associating with. Be it in a group like this, or a constant forum buddy or
maybe even someone worth maybe chatting with on Instant Messanger (but Maplerose
turned me down). I suppose at some point it just became something more than
simply cranking out review after review.
However my view on MT is quite simple:
1. I like to apply my literary capacity when I can. Suffice to say my artistic
capability leaves a lot to be desired. The opportunity to freely prepare and
submit a review is something that still makes MT appealing to me at least.
2. I don't think we as a group have to be actively searching for people to write
and submit reviews. If people come, they come. If not, so be it. You've given it
your best shot with the announcement and opportunity but if no one new took the
effort to put anything forward, its not due to you not making the effort to
provide an opportunity.
3. I like to take pride in the work I
submit to the reviews section of MT. If others submit sub-standard reviews
that's their prerogative (and issue); but it doesn't adversely affect the
efforts I put in.
Don't get me wrong if my sentiments sound defeatist or uncaring as I tend to
take a cynical view on a lot of things. Basically, we do what we can to the best
of our respective capabilities, resources and commitments; and that's all that
can be expected of us. Finally, that may be the thing about MT. It has become
little more than a place to leech the submissions of others without offering
much in return. So be it. Not our problem!
Usually I say "We don't die, we multiply." But looking at MT now, its
dead and divided.
I wanted to leave that comment alone for a while in hopes I could come back and
say you were somewhat wrong... but more than a week later and we didn't get a
single damn person applying. I suppose it's time to accept the fact that this
section is the appendix of the Minitokyo body and although it exists, is on the
whole useless.
Quote by MapleRose... But I do know
that it seems us moderators have less and less time dedicated to the site. Many
of the dedicated moderators retired, mostly due to their own lives getting busy.
And to make a site improve, we have to have moderators who care, and who have
time to care. I'm no exception. School is bearing down on me, and I have less
and less time dedicated to MT, so I apologize for my lack of activity within the
review section.
Then maybe its time those of us who are interested in improving the quality of
the reviews being submitted to MT (and, yes, I'm one of them) petition to
Shequel to have a new bunch of people promoted to moderator status with the
responsibility for specifically overseeing the reviews area. I'd suggest a team
of active members with moderator status (Sho?, Jak?, and myself) could regularly
scrutinise the reviews being submitted; update the "rules" on
submitting a review; and it would require the concurrence of two reviews
moderators to justify deletion of a review. Sho, yes I'm with you on this issue
- it may be the "balancing planner/bureaucrat" that tempers my passion
and plays devil's advocate at times - but I also want to see the quality of
reviews improve on MT.
I've taken the time many times to report forum posts, but never reviews. Reason
being that there are hundreds of forum posts a month, but only a scant few
reviews in that same period of time. Fact is, if our review mod took 10 minutes
a week to comb over the newest reviews, we wouldn't have as many issues.
Am I calling it laziness? Maybe. But I tend to more along the lines attribute it
to lack of care for the review section. Look, I don't know how difficult a mods
life is on this site, probably never will, but certain obligations come with
that colored name. When you get attached to a certain section, you are tasked
with maintaining it. So being the review mod and having no hand in the review
section is much akin to the Secretary of Agriculture having no idea about an
impending severe corn shortage.
It's not just deleting bad reviews or anything, but that colored name of yours
means a lot to a lot of members. A positive Maplerose comment on someones newest
vector art is like tenfold that of a regular member. So a positive comment on a
review may encourage the writers to take more of an interest in the section as a
whole. Likewise, a negative comment may make them act far more quickly than any
of us. I'd venture that although I told them their review was not up to
standard, that if a certain someone else told them the very same thing, we'd
likely have a prompt result.
I'm also not foolish enough to think that being a mod ties you down to this site
in servitude. Obviously we have lives that take precedence outside of this site,
to think otherwise would be nuts. But it isn't as if this job is just thrust
upon people, they take it upon themselves. What I'd wonder is how much
communication goes on between all the mods? When one of you is going to be in
short supply for whatever reason, are you asking for someone else to back you
up? Are you all engaging in discussion about problems or is it all just every
mod for themselves? When a member has something negative to say about a mod, is
it taken seriously is just treated as a member being an idiot? To us members, it
seems like the mods are a dark organization who thrive on telling us were wrong
and operating under the cover of darkness.
That point aside, on to your recommendation for a more detailed FAQ/Guide. If we
threw anything in the forum, it would likely be lost like everything else.
Instead why not just beef up the information you see on the page where you
submit reviews? Right now, its a sentence or two on how to write in that
section. Lets make that more robust. I'd imagine adding a few lines wouldn't be
difficult and it would certainly be visible for all review writers.
Quote by davidh01That said, it appears
that the author either doesn't have the time or interest to take your comments
on board and EDIT the review accordingly. About the best we could do is request
the Reviews moderator step in and delete the review (and p*****g the author off
as a result).
....
Unfortunately none of us in this group at least (correct me if I'm wrong
moderators - Maple, et al) have the ability to impose further sanctions upon
people who submit crap reviews, such as warning the author that their review
will be deleted if they don't edit it up to a satisfactory standard.
If you feel the review should be deleted, use the Report
button and report it. I'm not exactly sure what the procedure regarding deleting
reviews is, whether we'd give them a warning first and give them a chance to
edit, or just delete it right on the spot and if they want to edit it, submit a
new one =S. I'll assume giving them a warning and a chance to edit it, since
some people may not save their review on harddrives and would have to start all
over again.
As for the state of the review section itself.... I wasn't here when shinsengumi
was a mod, so I don't know what it was like back then. Also, I don't frequent
the forums much, so I can't comment on the changes of the threads there. The
reason I came to MT is because of the galleries, which is why I'm still here....
But from my perspective, it seems that MT's focus is moving more and more
towards scans and art. Esp since vector art is so popular right now
>__>
Quote: And whether its the members,
the mods or the owner of the damn site that let everything else go to s**t I
don't know.
I don't really know about that either. But I do
know that it seems us moderators have less and less time dedicated to the site.
Many of the dedicated moderators retired, mostly due to their own lives getting
busy. And to make a site improve, we have to have moderators who care, and who
have time to care. I'm no exception. School is bearing down on me, and I have
less and less time dedicated to MT, so I apologize for my lack of activity
within the review section.
As for what we can do as a group, sure, we can criticize and nag the author if
the review sucks, and warn the author the review will get deleted if they don't
edit it, but that might scare some people into never writing reviews again. As
dave said, some people don't take very well to criticism.
One suggestion of something we could do, I noticed some people say they want to
write a review, but don't know how or where to start. So we can come up with a
tutorial/guide on how to write reviews. Sure A
Reviewer's Guide to Minitokyo Reviews is there, but it's more of a FAQ than
telling you how to write reviews. We should give some tips in general, point out
common mistakes (and put in bold, big letters not to leave the sound section
blank for manga >__> ), and stuff like that.
2. Do me a favor, click the word "Review" up at the top. If you'll
take the time to click on all the reviews submitted by people not in this group,
you'll see that outside of myself and Jak, who consistantly comment on reviews,
our group has collectively commented 9 times. At least half of those 9 being
davidh01.
3. Take a look at our member list. You'll see we have 13 members. Again
subtracting myself and Jak, that leaves 11 members. Taking away davidh01 that
leaves 10 members and approx 5 comments amount the remainder of the group within
the past HALF YEAR!
So Yea it's finger pointing time. I know we based who we invited into this group
on writing. Whether they contributed good writing to the site was simple enough
criteria. When I was invited by shinsengumi I was told "There we not only
critique each other's reviews, but we also discuss the review system itself in
Minitokyo". This meant to keep writing and not only improving myself, but
improving the system. What I could have never hoped to accomplish myself I now
might be able to with strength in numbers.
Now I'm not foolish enough to think that this group has some amazing power to
make changes, but think about it. We don't have the numbers of something like
the Ecchi Club, but what we do have is quality members. Just the top of this
group has some well known members of MT and over time many of us have
established ourselves nicely throughout MT. Maplerose has since become a mod,
Jak, from what he tells me, is hella popular, and people know my name now as
that guy who writes too many damn reviews. Many of us in this group aren't
random nobodies who simply inhabit this site with the sole purpose of leeching
its resources. We do contribute. We don't cause problems (except me of late).
That's where our strength lies. If we discussed things in detail amongst
ourselves, we may be able to push things through for change or improvement, but
not as members and mods, but as a group that cares about one neglected little
section of MT. If we can't have the review mod in this group, then we damn sure
need to be keeping the one that's there in the loop. If we annoy him, THEN TOO
DAMN BAD. It doesn't stop at reviews either. I'd say that outside of the
occasional dumb subject (usually instigated by me) we usually are a pretty
intelligent bunch. Change will come by those who care making it know that change
is necessary. If we can't directly influence that change then we can damn sure
work to influence the ones that can.
While my point may have been lost somewhere above, it all comes down to all of
us giving a shit. This group really does consist of people who only become
active when they have a new review posted. I am pointing fingers at the failure
of this group as a whole to do anything. I point it at myself for not being
proactive enough. Sure I tried to do things, but I was always worried about
stepping on the wrong persons toes. I didn't want to piss off a mod who is too
high on themselves that they forgot (or never knew) what their purpose is on
this site. While you guys may want to play it safe I'm done with that. If If
somehow a good change happened to this site and I got banned, I would feel like
mission accomplished. I left this bastard anyway so what would I have to lose.
All I'm asking is that those people who never say a damn thing, start speaking
up. Those who do talk, let's make something happen. And if we need numbers,
let's get out there and find them and not wait for them to come to us.
Quote by dave Until others in this group
actually have the ability to impose sanctions on sub-standard reviews (i.e.
deleting them) then our criticisms and complaints will have limited impact on
improving the community.
Just thought I'd let you wonderful review people know, it is quite possible that I am about to go head to head with one of the fabled MT mods. I'm getting to the point where I am so sick of his sh*t and his damned arrogance that I just can't sit idle anymore. Someone has gotten out of hand, and the fact that no one seems to have done anything about it shows a massive failure on the part of the administration of this site. He has squashed my ideas ultimately because he said so. He comes in and deletes my posts and accuses me of mini-modding. He cares more about flaunting mod powers on this site than actually doing anything constructive with them.
I will also be sending a message to the admin of this site with a little idea I've been brainstorming. I've got something that can really help the community as a whole and I know that if I just put it in the Minitokyo section of the forums, it will likely be drowned out. While the idea in and of itself is just theory in practice, I'm hoping that if approved, I can find people who can actually help bring it together. More on that later...
Needless to say, now that I've essentially decided to go rogue, if a line happens to pop up through my little name here, you know why.
That would be good if it was the case --- I'd like to think of it as "The Power of the Reviewing Trinity" or "Dob in a Dud" (personally I like the first one. It appeals to me as a planner on a power trip.)
@ Sho: Yes, I agree this was likely to be the action of one moderator. But I don't know which one to give the credit, hence the use of the plural.
Lolz... I wonder who got to it... Maybe didn't even thought about it reading it... like they just went there and saw our comments and bam, bye bye whack review.
I'm going to split hairs here and edit that comment to say MODERATOR without the 's'. Quick action of one does not give kudos points to them all. Either way, you have convinced me of neither jack nor sh*t.
@ Jak: Yeah, I did understand it - seriously. I didn't get anything of value out of it though.
@ Sho: Well, the reporting worked and it appeared to be smited (or taken down before it caused more embarrassment, depending on who got to it first) within 24 hours of reporting. I've got to give the moderators credit where its due, that was a good response time IMO.
Gotta do what ya gotta do...
You actually understood that stuff? Like seriously dave?
Sorry Sho, I had to report this one as retaining it would be a disservice to the MT community and an insult to those of us who take reviewing even remotely seriously. I was laughing out loud throughout reading it with the inane commentary and, I'll admit, I did find it humourous at times. However, I did make the comment that the reviewer in question should do us a favour and take it down.
No, I was just preparing myself for the worst.
On another note, the front page has been graced by another MT worthy review. I had brain cells actually explode. But this actually works out quite nicely.
Again, I refuse to report a review. We've had a blistering pace of 4 reviews in the past two months. If something does not come of this, or at least some reasonable explanation as to why it is allowed to remain in existence, I formally wash my hands of the wretched review system on this site. If any of you feel the need to report it, then go for it. But I recommend we do what we do as usual with commenting and let the rest play out.
I'm actually hoping I will visit this site within the next couple of days and see a comment from the annoited God of reviews... or just that the review has been laid to waste. But you'll have to pardon me if my pessimism has me believing something else entirely.
Are you asking for my opinion?
Hey I might crack on you guys, but notice throughout most of my posts in the past, the person I pick on most is myself. I only know you guys from this guestbook, I know myself all to well and I can say without a doubt... I totally suck. I think Jak can attest to that... right?
ROFL! Love it! Only you may get away with dissing the few members of the group who are fairly active (although Maple's been rather quiet as of late - must be school, work, college or something). You are right, though, where we might pop our heads in for a quick chat before getting back to reality for a long time. Not that we're antisocial or anything, but we tend to be efficient with our writing - no excess verbosity on all sorts of crap (unlike other groups). Maybe we save ourselves up for a splash when we submit a review and then we're out of the proverbial pool very quickly (don't want to get a virus or spam or anything).
If this group was vector art, people would actually care it existed.
Don't get me wrong, I generally like all the people in this group (cept Maplerose who shoots me down, Jak who just generally sucks and YOU David for making me look like a yokel everytime you write). It's just that while we do have these guestbook chats, it really is pretty minimal. Most members never say a word and the few remaining ones are fairly active and then drop off for a while, then come back.
Maybe it was my undoing to not be involved maybe with other online communities. The saying "don't put all your eggs in to one basket" comes to mind. I suppose the mindset was come in, contribute, mingle a bit and then maybe I would find more of a reason to hang around.
I hope this isn't coming off as a "oh God, please be my friend" cause it isn't so much that. I mean I got to know Jak from this site, and we talk pretty often (just don't ask about what) and I have got a degree of notoriety from writing, but I guess I see it as effort in does not equal reward out. I think what ultimately needs to happen is, I need to step the hell away from my computer and get out more. But damnit I hate the sun and refuse to drink alcohol... so what's a guy to do?
I'd like to think you found at least some of them - even if its only in this particular group <grin>. Suffice it to say I always liked to read your feedback on my reviews. It meant that at least someone was reading them carefully and was willing to critique my opinions. That sort of thing always makes for good debate, and I appreciate your efforts.
Agreed. It is for that simple reason that I avoid the forums entirely. I could count on two hands the number of replies I've put up in the forums, and they generally relate to the Computers and Internet section (which I have a modest interest in). If some members are going to be shallow about their threads (favourite things, emo discussions, etc.), I don't even want to degrade my opinions in such trivialities. Don't blame yourself for expecting more - be pleased that you have high standards. If the community isn't up to scratch, then maybe it is time to move on. For me, I like certain parts of the MT community, present company included. As for the rest, I don't give a rat's ass about it.
I see your points, but maybe my problem is that I'm too self-centered. I simply see most of the MT community as a pile of garbage. Most people would rather put pointless replies in threads or throw together fanboy rantings and call them reviews. They thrive on "favorites" threads and the idiot games in the chat lounge. They create groups for current fads and then let them die in no time. So my goal in a sense, was to create at least a community within the community that really made my time worth spending here.
To find enough people who were intelligent enough to actually discuss serious matters with as well as the not so important topics. The ones who would take the time to write a review and would be open to all criticisms. So the little things I would do from commenting on reviews, sending PM's to people doing things wrong on the forums and at times attempting to quell rampant idiocy on certain topics, were to at least create a subset of quality members.
I mean I find it sad that when you go into forums, you know exactly what you are going to find. Favorites threads for any of the anime or gaming forums. Emo kids encouraging other emo kids in Lamentations. Flame wars in the religion portion with the same members. But I blame myself for expecting much more than I should have from a website of this ilk.
So yea, essentially I wanted to create my own niche of people with whom I didn't mind associating with. Be it in a group like this, or a constant forum buddy or maybe even someone worth maybe chatting with on Instant Messanger (but Maplerose turned me down). I suppose at some point it just became something more than simply cranking out review after review.
Maybe that is the case.
However my view on MT is quite simple:
1. I like to apply my literary capacity when I can. Suffice to say my artistic capability leaves a lot to be desired. The opportunity to freely prepare and submit a review is something that still makes MT appealing to me at least.
2. I don't think we as a group have to be actively searching for people to write and submit reviews. If people come, they come. If not, so be it. You've given it your best shot with the announcement and opportunity but if no one new took the effort to put anything forward, its not due to you not making the effort to provide an opportunity.
3. I like to take pride in the work I submit to the reviews section of MT. If others submit sub-standard reviews that's their prerogative (and issue); but it doesn't adversely affect the efforts I put in.
Don't get me wrong if my sentiments sound defeatist or uncaring as I tend to take a cynical view on a lot of things. Basically, we do what we can to the best of our respective capabilities, resources and commitments; and that's all that can be expected of us. Finally, that may be the thing about MT. It has become little more than a place to leech the submissions of others without offering much in return. So be it. Not our problem!
I wanted to leave that comment alone for a while in hopes I could come back and say you were somewhat wrong... but more than a week later and we didn't get a single damn person applying. I suppose it's time to accept the fact that this section is the appendix of the Minitokyo body and although it exists, is on the whole useless.
Read my sig...
Usually I say "We don't die, we multiply." But looking at MT now, its dead and divided.
Then maybe its time those of us who are interested in improving the quality of the reviews being submitted to MT (and, yes, I'm one of them) petition to Shequel to have a new bunch of people promoted to moderator status with the responsibility for specifically overseeing the reviews area. I'd suggest a team of active members with moderator status (Sho?, Jak?, and myself) could regularly scrutinise the reviews being submitted; update the "rules" on submitting a review; and it would require the concurrence of two reviews moderators to justify deletion of a review. Sho, yes I'm with you on this issue - it may be the "balancing planner/bureaucrat" that tempers my passion and plays devil's advocate at times - but I also want to see the quality of reviews improve on MT.
I've taken the time many times to report forum posts, but never reviews. Reason being that there are hundreds of forum posts a month, but only a scant few reviews in that same period of time. Fact is, if our review mod took 10 minutes a week to comb over the newest reviews, we wouldn't have as many issues.
Am I calling it laziness? Maybe. But I tend to more along the lines attribute it to lack of care for the review section. Look, I don't know how difficult a mods life is on this site, probably never will, but certain obligations come with that colored name. When you get attached to a certain section, you are tasked with maintaining it. So being the review mod and having no hand in the review section is much akin to the Secretary of Agriculture having no idea about an impending severe corn shortage.
It's not just deleting bad reviews or anything, but that colored name of yours means a lot to a lot of members. A positive Maplerose comment on someones newest vector art is like tenfold that of a regular member. So a positive comment on a review may encourage the writers to take more of an interest in the section as a whole. Likewise, a negative comment may make them act far more quickly than any of us. I'd venture that although I told them their review was not up to standard, that if a certain someone else told them the very same thing, we'd likely have a prompt result.
I'm also not foolish enough to think that being a mod ties you down to this site in servitude. Obviously we have lives that take precedence outside of this site, to think otherwise would be nuts. But it isn't as if this job is just thrust upon people, they take it upon themselves. What I'd wonder is how much communication goes on between all the mods? When one of you is going to be in short supply for whatever reason, are you asking for someone else to back you up? Are you all engaging in discussion about problems or is it all just every mod for themselves? When a member has something negative to say about a mod, is it taken seriously is just treated as a member being an idiot? To us members, it seems like the mods are a dark organization who thrive on telling us were wrong and operating under the cover of darkness.
That point aside, on to your recommendation for a more detailed FAQ/Guide. If we threw anything in the forum, it would likely be lost like everything else. Instead why not just beef up the information you see on the page where you submit reviews? Right now, its a sentence or two on how to write in that section. Lets make that more robust. I'd imagine adding a few lines wouldn't be difficult and it would certainly be visible for all review writers.
If you feel the review should be deleted, use the Report button and report it. I'm not exactly sure what the procedure regarding deleting reviews is, whether we'd give them a warning first and give them a chance to edit, or just delete it right on the spot and if they want to edit it, submit a new one =S. I'll assume giving them a warning and a chance to edit it, since some people may not save their review on harddrives and would have to start all over again.
As for the state of the review section itself.... I wasn't here when shinsengumi was a mod, so I don't know what it was like back then. Also, I don't frequent the forums much, so I can't comment on the changes of the threads there. The reason I came to MT is because of the galleries, which is why I'm still here.... But from my perspective, it seems that MT's focus is moving more and more towards scans and art. Esp since vector art is so popular right now >__>
I don't really know about that either. But I do know that it seems us moderators have less and less time dedicated to the site. Many of the dedicated moderators retired, mostly due to their own lives getting busy. And to make a site improve, we have to have moderators who care, and who have time to care. I'm no exception. School is bearing down on me, and I have less and less time dedicated to MT, so I apologize for my lack of activity within the review section.
As for what we can do as a group, sure, we can criticize and nag the author if the review sucks, and warn the author the review will get deleted if they don't edit it, but that might scare some people into never writing reviews again. As dave said, some people don't take very well to criticism.
One suggestion of something we could do, I noticed some people say they want to write a review, but don't know how or where to start. So we can come up with a tutorial/guide on how to write reviews. Sure A Reviewer's Guide to Minitokyo Reviews is there, but it's more of a FAQ than telling you how to write reviews. We should give some tips in general, point out common mistakes (and put in bold, big letters not to leave the sound section blank for manga >__> ), and stuff like that.
1. Yes it would be premature to say welcome back.
2. Do me a favor, click the word "Review" up at the top. If you'll take the time to click on all the reviews submitted by people not in this group, you'll see that outside of myself and Jak, who consistantly comment on reviews, our group has collectively commented 9 times. At least half of those 9 being davidh01.
3. Take a look at our member list. You'll see we have 13 members. Again subtracting myself and Jak, that leaves 11 members. Taking away davidh01 that leaves 10 members and approx 5 comments amount the remainder of the group within the past HALF YEAR!
So Yea it's finger pointing time. I know we based who we invited into this group on writing. Whether they contributed good writing to the site was simple enough criteria. When I was invited by shinsengumi I was told "There we not only critique each other's reviews, but we also discuss the review system itself in Minitokyo". This meant to keep writing and not only improving myself, but improving the system. What I could have never hoped to accomplish myself I now might be able to with strength in numbers.
Now I'm not foolish enough to think that this group has some amazing power to make changes, but think about it. We don't have the numbers of something like the Ecchi Club, but what we do have is quality members. Just the top of this group has some well known members of MT and over time many of us have established ourselves nicely throughout MT. Maplerose has since become a mod, Jak, from what he tells me, is hella popular, and people know my name now as that guy who writes too many damn reviews. Many of us in this group aren't random nobodies who simply inhabit this site with the sole purpose of leeching its resources. We do contribute. We don't cause problems (except me of late).
That's where our strength lies. If we discussed things in detail amongst ourselves, we may be able to push things through for change or improvement, but not as members and mods, but as a group that cares about one neglected little section of MT. If we can't have the review mod in this group, then we damn sure need to be keeping the one that's there in the loop. If we annoy him, THEN TOO DAMN BAD. It doesn't stop at reviews either. I'd say that outside of the occasional dumb subject (usually instigated by me) we usually are a pretty intelligent bunch. Change will come by those who care making it know that change is necessary. If we can't directly influence that change then we can damn sure work to influence the ones that can.
While my point may have been lost somewhere above, it all comes down to all of us giving a shit. This group really does consist of people who only become active when they have a new review posted. I am pointing fingers at the failure of this group as a whole to do anything. I point it at myself for not being proactive enough. Sure I tried to do things, but I was always worried about stepping on the wrong persons toes. I didn't want to piss off a mod who is too high on themselves that they forgot (or never knew) what their purpose is on this site. While you guys may want to play it safe I'm done with that. If If somehow a good change happened to this site and I got banned, I would feel like mission accomplished. I left this bastard anyway so what would I have to lose. All I'm asking is that those people who never say a damn thing, start speaking up. Those who do talk, let's make something happen. And if we need numbers, let's get out there and find them and not wait for them to come to us.
Who's with me?!
Until then... until then...