We need a new face of staff members since most of the time barely do anything. Check with the current staff members to see if they still care about the site. If not, then they will be stripped of the title and privileges. If they still are, then they should be expected to be active on the site by dealing with every issue. Since there is going to be room, the staff members (still interested) set up applications for mods. Maybe have two mods per subforum (casual, advanced, 1x1, nation, etc.). Then, there will be four mods that keep running the entire forum smoothly.

• GM Autonomy – in most matters pertaining to the thread, the GM has the final say, as it is their plot and we do not wish to interfere with running RP's. Who is in, who is out, calls regarding the storyline and the rules by which RP's run (including how many paragraphs, post rate and order, etc, etc...) who needs to leave and so forth. The only time the moderators tend to step in is when the rules listed above are being violated, otherwise the GM is left to sort it out and deal with their problem players.

i honestly don't get why it needs to be in the gm's separate rules, or the forum rules at all. isn't it common sense to know that a gm can accept and deny whoever they want, for whatever reasons? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

<Snipped quote by The Spectre>

I don't trust the existing mods to make that call. They made the last choice. Situation barely improved (although the last pick is more active than the rest, it's still barely an improvement, because nothing gets done.). It'd be more of the same shit.

<Snipped quote by Buddha>

What should we do then? Sit on our hands and hope that the staff members are more active in the near future? We are running out of options. Do we demand that the staff members be more active or just give up on saving this site?

I am fucked if this site goes under and my roleplaying hobby might just end. The only other site that I could go to is Iwakuroleplay. But, I have been banned there for a long time (it was over something stupid that I deserved the ban). So, I am screwed when it comes to my roleplaying hobby and I love to do it too.

@Grimhildr There are people on this site who, when they mean to say "bored," instead say "board" and "bord." In the same damn sentence.

Never doubt the depths of Man's stupidity.

<Snipped quote by Buddha>

What should we do then? Sit on our hands and hope that the staff members are more active in the near future? We are running out of options. Do we demand that the staff members be more active or just give up on saving this site?

I am fucked if this site goes under and my roleplaying hobby might just end. The only other site that I could go to is Iwakuroleplay. But, I have been banned there for a long time (it was over something stupid that I deserved the ban). So, I am screwed when it comes to my roleplaying hobby and I love to do it too.

I say if, but this thread is slowly taking us more and more towards despair. We seem to be coming to a slow and painful realization that we can't really do much without any of the higher-ups.

I would prefer to have user elected moderators. But I fear the outcome would be even worse. But I don't trust the community or the moderators to make that call anymore.

<Snipped quote by Raddum>
This is the sad and bitter reality, but we can say that at least we acknowledge that there is somewhat of a problem here on the Guild and that is the first step towards improvement. Maybe we could start prodding at the moderators and Mahz, but I somehow doubt that'd be very effective considering the fact that they hardly exist in the first place.

i didn't say anything was gonna come of this thread, i just wanted to see people's thoughts. however, it is sad to see that due to an absent staff and owner, there isn't much we can do to avoid the site getting run into the ground.

<Snipped quote by The Spectre>

No. I would prefer to have user elected moderators. But I fear the outcome would be even worse. But I don't trust the community or the moderators to make that call anymore. The mods have proven they don't really care, the community has proven they're too clique-y for that. IDK what other solution there is.

Do you trust the mods to make that call unbiased?

<Snipped quote by The Spectre>

While I personally have a group of people who I can group with from here off-site (And in 1x1's as well) I can understand your problem. Iwaku isn't really a good alternative regardless of a ban, but all I can suggest is getting off-site info for the good people you know on this forum and hope if this site goes down you can hang with them still.

<Snipped quote by Buddha>

Agreed. This site's greatest draw for me has been that the mods aren't power-hungry. Other RP sites, other forums, a certain anime streaming site, have all been ruined by mods who care more about becoming god in their little internet-societies than about actually making the sites better for everyone. I'd sooner have no mods at all than a force of them who, given Mahz's inactivity, can run rampant without any checks and balances to limit their damage potential. Personally I know there are at least three people on this site who would want me banned just for existing with a different opinion near them. I think I'd be a fair mod but there are people who'd fear for their safety on the site, because they and I have had our spats before, and it's much too easy for players to hold a grudge, especially when the opportunity to retaliate on those grudges presents itself.

But then, @BrokenPromise brings up a good point: if the mods control the rules of the site, then the players control its culture. If we want a certain type of roleplayer (e.g. people who go AWOL on the RPs they've joined) eradicated from this site then it's up to our GMs to enforce these folkways. And if the guilty parties don't like that, well, they're free to make their own RPs here, or to go somewhere else. The absence of the mods only punctuates the idea that we the players are responsible for creating the site which we want to play on: if we want more diverse plotlines then we must be the ones to write them. If we want problematic players to leave then we must be willing to publicly acknowledge them as problematic. And so on.

Waiting for other people to effect the changes we want to see on this site isn't working. As players, and especially as GMs, we must be willing to be the changes we want for the Guild, especially if the mod team make it clear that they're not looking out for us anymore.

<Snipped quote by Grimhildr>
I appreciate the thread nonetheless. Even if nothing changes, I'm glad that there is discussion regarding the topic from a community standpoint.

@pugbutter@Grimhildr@Raddum

Oh, I don't include that rule because I think it needs to be there. I do think it lets interested roleplayers know that i'm going to be looking at their posts. It's not there to ensure I can be a GM, but to scare off roleplayers that aren't qualified to join.

It would be funny if someone tried to make a site that is almost identical to this site.

It would be funny if someone tried to make a site that is almost identical to this site.

Is this a challenge.

This is the sad and bitter reality, but we can say that at least we acknowledge that there is somewhat of a problem here on the Guild and that is the first step towards improvement. Maybe we could start prodding at the moderators and Mahz, but I somehow doubt that'd be very effective considering the fact that they hardly exist in the first place.

Fair enough. It does sound like a good idea to talk to people that I trust about other options. Thanks.

Are we not at the point where this change is a bit too late? I feel like this is a realization we should've had from the start. Not now that we're realizing there might be a problem.