Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

Hi all ... I'm back from holiday and notice that Zen sticky Posts are now anonymous ? what's happen ? is Zen disappeared ?

good play
Liga

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

He's also been removed from the list of Moderators.

Hmmmmm.

EDIT: And a username search seems to indicate that there never was a 'Zen'

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

That's really bad! I hope it is only a side effect of the new forum and that Zen could come up again with a new identity ... he was one of the people has done most for the dom2 community!

... good play ...

Liga

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

Zen got fed up with the forum. So he wished his moderator status revoked, I gues he cancelled his account as well.

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

give my hello to Zen ... and if he has also stopped his projects in dom2 documentations, ask him to make avaible his works to the community, if you still have a way to contact him

good bay Zen and good play!
Liga

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

.

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

Ah, this is sad news, JO.
Is there any particular reason for the (apparently: very sudden) change? I hope no severe RL tie-ups?
best
TT

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

This is a shame indeed.

Zen has contributed a HUGE amount to this community. Sad to see him go, especially so abruptly.

If you are reading this, thanks very much Zen. You will be missed.

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

Any rumors on why he left??

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

i think he was just tired of it and suffering a bit of the notorious Dom II burn-out. just a guess, based mostly on a few comments. He's said before that he was thinking of leaving.

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

Am I the only one who finds it odd that Norfleet's exit garnered over a hundred Posts, while Zen's exit seems to be completely uninteresting to people?

What is not being said?

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

It's a shame for this forum to lose a capacity such as Zen. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

I use the MIQR and SCQR a lot (as do all other "serious" players ?!?). I was looking forward to the RSQR and the CSQR (Ritual and Combat Spell Quick References), and I truly hope that someone (if not Zen himself) will finish these two documents. The two first are simply brilliant, and the complete set (all four) would be extremely usefull.

I'm sorry that he got so fed up with being a moderator that he actually deleted the Zen persona. (If this is in fact what prompted this drastic departure)

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

Conspiracy theorists unite!

Well, seriously, I think it is human nature that a cheating scandal involving an individual who was already controversial to begin with incites lots of heated Posts, while the precipitous departure of well liked moderator does not.

That said, I'm sure we all read many of Zen's Posts and Zen's documents, and I for one certainly feel that I owe him a lot for adding to my experience of Dom2.

It would be very helpful if someone from IW or from Shrapnel could update us on the status of the RSQR and the CSQR (Ritual and Combat Spell Quick References, as mentioned by Ivan). I know I read a post by Zen where he stated he was only waiting on one Last fact checking iteration with IW, and it would be a real shame to lose these documents, even if they are still in an incomplete state. As a side note, searching for Zen's Posts is more difficult than it might have been since searching with "anonymous" user doesn't seem to work.

- Thufir

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

Rest assured that there are people who are curious as to what really happened. However, Richard has made it clear that he feels asking such questions is "non-productive" (his words, not mine). Which just throws more fuel on the burning desire to know. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/confused.gif

I have my suspicions, which thanks to Richard I'll keep to myself. I'd be perfectly happy to ask Zen (aka Jack Black) directly if I still had his email address. But I lost it (and many other forumites' addresses) when I my desktop suffered a m/b failure a couple of weeks ago and I had to rebuild it. My backup of my Mozilla folder for some odd reason lacked that particular address book. (sigh) http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

Well Im the one who physically did the actions and as far as I know there is nothing which is NOT being said. Johans post pretty much covers it. There were no specific names involved, most of the comments involved "the forum". At Zen's request he was deleted.

And by the way, the login has been blocked from re-use. Since I have Zen's email I feel secure that it can be reinstated when (and if) he should request it.

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

I hope he comes back. Off the top of my head, I cannot think of a better moderator. He was knowledgeable and levelheaded. Not a common combination.

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

Me too.
Not common at all. But there is one person I can think of who's even better at the task: Gandalf. He might not be as much of a walking encyclopaedia of Dom as Zen is/was, but he's more impartial (and much more patient) as a moderator, which are more important traits for the job.

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

Gandalf,

Do you think if his ID were reinstated the forum software would correctly identify his old Posts? If so, I for one would appreciate it if you could make the request to him that his ID be reinstated (of course, without requiring his active participation). Aside from the improved search functionality, I think it's clear that Zen is very well regarded in this forum, and he'd be leaving a more positive legacy with named Posts than with anonymous Posts.

Thanks,

Thufir


EDIT:
First sentence is now comprehensible

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

Actually I'll clear up both of your previous Posts with one. One rule I observe when doing anything with any forum is that Moderator's actions are not for public criticism. It undermines their ability to do their job. If there is an issue with a Moderator, that should be taken up the chain of command and handled internally as much as possible.

I have no problem with discussion over why Zen left, otherwise I would have locked this threads as well. However the previous post, that was editted, specifically criticized someone who cannot defend himself now and was a Moderator on the Boards. There is a distinction. As far as re-instating the ID I will leave that decision to Zen himself, if he wishes to then we will, otherwise we will respect his wishes to have his account deleted.

Again feel free to speculate but please leave it out of the realm of discussing how one moderator is better than the other or how a previous moderator had failings. It is counter productive and to be honest isn't fair to anyone involved.

Thanks.

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

Hmmm reasonable logic. All I can do is ask him.

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

I've got the same impression as well. Aside from his comments to that effect, he was doing maps, documents and moderating besides playing the game, so it surely looks like a burn-out.

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

Hmm, if all of the stickies are now under anonymous, does it mean that no one can edit them?

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

No one except Moderators & admins.

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

Actually that was part of the problem anyway. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif
Zen and I were fishing for some interest in maintaining some of the stickies, but it was being left to the admins and Moderators.

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

Well, if you have to be a moderator to have the access privileges to be able to edit sticky Posts, it shouldn't be a wonder that it's being left to the mods/admins. Unless this forum software permits (which I doubt it does) the selective granting of access rights (ie: ability to edit certain threads, but not others). I'd be happy to take responsibility for maintaining the stickies, but I have no desire at all to be a moderator in general. (Been there, done that, it's a near-thankless task.) I'll leave the cat-herding to those more temperamentally suited to such things. Let me know if I'm wrong and you can grant limited-Moderatorship.

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

This is sad news indeed, Zen was wise back in the days when I was playing the dom1demo.

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

Well he must have been upset about something since he left by having himself entirely removed from the forum. Most people on forums just appear less and less frequently eventually fading away.

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

from what i've seen being a moderator can be a very vicious cycle. Quite often a moderator only gets involved when things turn decidedly negative, in fact that's probably the prime reason there are Moderators, to defuse potentially explosive situations. This leads to Moderators having to lay down the law at times when people are at their most opinionated, which can generate distastful feelings towards the Moderators in question, who are only trying to do their job. I've had feelings like this myself for Zen in the past, when he was only doing what he felt his job to be. And it saddens me to think that my responses might have played a role in Zen's decision to leave. I have a hard time dealing with anything that smacks of censorship, even when the censorship is for the good of all, which can make my gut reaction something that i later regret in retrospect.

On the flip side the general posters often feel that unless the number of people posting an opinion reaches a certain critical mass, their opinions are often undervalued by a system that functions much like a military hierarchy. We are forbidden any expression of dissenting opinion when it comes to the act's of Moderators. I can't speak for others but this rubs me very wrong since i get quite enough of it in my day job. The only time a rank system is really necessary is in combat when discussion could lead to inaction which could lead to death.

Its a vicious cycle that's far harder on the Moderators becuase they are doing a job as opposed to spitting out their personal opinions and are expected to always remain calm and neutral. I can still vent when i feel like it http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif . Much of the animosity is the product of the system, not any personal angst against Moderators, and i think the Moderators here are some of the best.

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

As a long time professional moderator I have alittle different view of that. Funny, I always chalked it up to being retired military. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

True enough. One of these days Im going to create a secret personae just so I can post opinions and ask newbie questions in other game forums here.

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

Well, frankly Zen was never too shy about expressing his opinions. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif Please note that I am not saying that it is good or bad thing, just observing the fact.

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

Yes but the previous posters comments that it can get in the way of good moderating was a true statement. It can be a problem if they do speak out personally abit too much. And it can be a problem if they force themselves to hold it in too much. On other Boards Ive moderated I have often recommended that the Moderators create a personal user personae to make it easier to split their replies in a healthy manner.

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

Aye, I completely agree with you Gandalf. And yes, it can certanly get in the way of good moderating. Perhaps creating another person is a good idea, either that or having tight control on your emotions when you, the moderator, decide to participate in heated debate.
BTW I never noticed that to be a problem with you, although I imagine you probably had a strong desire to tell what you reeealy feel in plain words over some controversial topics. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif Personally I respect your self control and discipline, I think they are sign of good moderator.

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

You know the growing irrelevance of the stickies is getting really annoying. I think the easiest solution might be to unsticky zen's original Posts, have arryn make new ones and have a moderator sticky them instead.

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

I have now unlocked stickies and deleted a whole bunch of incorrect (old forum) links. That way at least people can post new stuff below the unmaintained post.

I would of course appreciate it if some people like to maintain a stickie or three. If you are interested in maintatining an anonymous stickie, make a new post and let me know so I can replace the old stickie with that one.

Arryn what stickie(s) are you interested in maintaining?

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

The AAR and Links stickies.

BTW, I think it was a big mistake to delete all the old links in the AAR thread because even though the actual links were bad, knowing the AAR thread names would have made searching for the correct new URLs much easier. Now the task of rebuilding the thread will be (needlessly) harder.

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

True, but Google fast enough and their Cache should still have the old information available.

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

Tried it. All the Google searches stop at the Dom 2 forum's index page and fail to drill down into the actual thread. If anyone successfully retrieves the old info, please cut and paste it into an email and send it to me. Thanks.

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

Sorry about that Arryn. Here they are again.

A Tale of Fire and Blood by General Tacticus - Mictlan - Unknown
... Some Say In Ice by Peter Ebbesen - Jotunheim (Niefelheim) - Ongoing
Jotunheim: Utgard by Arryn - Jotunheim (Utgard)- Ongoing
Abysian AAR, Part Deux by Joe Backwards - Abysia - Completed
Noob's shot at an R'lyeh AAR by CharonJr - R'lyeh - Unknown
A Happy Planet by IKerensky - Ulm - Unknown
Newbie Dominions 2 AAR by Calis - Ermor (Ashen Empire) - Unknown
Dominions (PPP) AAR - Jens - Multiplayer Multination - Completed
T'ien Ch'i Game Writeup - by AStott - T'ien Ch'i - Unknown
Turn of the Sidhe Tide - by Zurai - Man (Last of the Tuatha) - Unknown
First AAR - by condors - Ulm - Unknown
Neophyte with Caelum - by Wyatt Hebert - Ongoing
Got Blood? Black Forest Newbie AAR - by Scott Hebert -Ongoing
Time of the Ice Giants - by Sachmo - Ongoing
Lutes 1 MP AAR (Man) - by Ryan (Rywill) - Completed

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

Thanks, Johan! That makes my task much easier.

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

I have created a new thread, starting with post #291212, for AARs. Can you please sticky that thread and delete the old AAR ex-sticky?

Thanks!

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

Thanks Arrryn!

Re: Why Zen sticky post are now \"anonymous\" ?
 

You're welcome, Johan. It's my pleasure. And that was very quick work on your part to sticky it.