About the Tearooms (formerly Ex: Welcome to the Tinfoil Hat Tearooms!)

[Anker Steadfast]

Mao is double posting!!!1!!1one!!

I reckon I shall feel right at home here.

[Mao]

I rather doubt that.  This place is much like the mine.  Think of it as being just a hairs breadth away from *being* the mine.

[ShadesFox]

Dear God, Mao is a mod?  We are all well and truly doomed!  Doomed!  Where did my sake go?  I'm going to need lots of it.

[Anker Steadfast]

Feh .. as long as they don't ninja me into becoming a mod, we are all safe. 

[Mao]

You're being annoying.  Stop that.

[Drayco84]

I've got no problems with the tinfoil hat, but these tinfoil briefs are chaping...

[Mao]

Guys, unless you've got some question relevant to the rules above or what this place is, stop posting in here.

[Damaris]

You know, sometimes locking the rules thread helps

[Darkmoon]

Dear God, Mao is a mod?  We are all well and truly doomed!  Doomed!  Where did my sake go?  I'm going to need lots of it.

Could be worse. We could just make him an admin.

Feh .. as long as they don't ninja me into becoming a mod, we are all safe.  

You're much too new and not nearly interesting enough.

Guys, unless you've got some question relevant to the rules above or what this place is, stop posting in here.

Never. Suck it. You're the Man now! You have to tolerate bullshit like this. Mwahahahaha!

[Mao]

Wait, was that last one a taunt or a request?  I can never tell with you.  Anyway, the reason I didn't lock it was because it was easier for them to ask questions and the like as well as keep them all in one place.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Fun as the lulz are, we should probably split them into a new thread, so that the rules are purely the rules.

[Mao]

Fair enough, I'll split it off and send the remainder down to the mine.

[Mao]

Or you already have.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

yay, win!

[Mao]

Win?  In My Abandoned Mine?  It's less likely than you think.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

No, not Your Abandoned Mine. Mine.


This Abandoned, it erMine.

[Darkmoon]

And abandoned no longer!

[Mao]

Jeeze, you must really not like these guys.

[Darkmoon]

Foul thread, go back from whence you came!

[Mao]

Out out damned spot!

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

I spilled spot remover on my dog.


He's gone now.

[Scow2]

Bleh... Looking at some of the threads that have been punted here (And even some that have gone to the Abandoned Mine proper), I don't like these places and their effect on the DMFA forums... While I can say the removal of stupid individual posts or chains of threads can be justified, the outright removal of entire threads (Including an entire Official Strip Discussion thread!) instead of derailed posts is counter-productive to the entire point of a forum: Open discussion of subject. In the case of DMFA, the purpose of the forum is to discuss the comic, spin-offs, and it's setting.

Also, these places encourage moderators to be lazy (We definitely don't have a shortage of Mods!) to the detriment of on-topic discussion. Instead of removing posts that start derailing a thread, it seems these places encourage the mods to let the discussion become completely derailed and end up with everything dumped here or in the mine, stifling discussion or dooming it to derailment rather than having mods step in to cut the good from the bad and let the discussion continue.

I'm particularly irked by the complete removal of several threads, most obvious being an entire specific Official Comic-Discussion thread, because toward the end it got derailed. Rather than just remove the offending posts and and warning to bring the actual thread on-topic (I saw individual posts trying to revert to the original discussion up to the move to the Abandoned Mine), the entire thread got sent there out of moderator laziness.

The other thread move that irritates me on principal is the discussion on tentacle heads. It didn't derail until it was sent here, simply because of a mod abusing his authority to destroy a completely legitimate discussion... for what reason?

In short... this and the Abandoned Mine seem to encourage Anti-Moderation, giving those entrusted with power to outright stifle legitimate discussion, facilitate thread derailment, and empower Trolls (A number of threads are sent to these places by a single person's off-topic or inane posting whenever technically legal.). Isn't the true job of a moderator supposed to be encourage legitimate, friendly discussions, keep threads on topic by removing offensive/off-topic INDIVIDUAL posts or sub discussions, and shut trolls down?

[Mao]

Actually, they get sent here so that they can continue and still be a part of Lost Lake Inn.  They're given to me to watch over and while these first ones have devolved heavily, it isn't the intent.  The real intent of this place is to take threads that are less about the comic they reference and more about the world building/theorizing/speculation and put them down here so that folks who want to discuss the comic proper can do so without having to sift through page upon page of some of the rather voluminous posts that our more notorious theorizers have been able to come up with.  Beyond that, it also helps by serving to keep all of that stuff in one place so it can be easily found, indexed and referenced.

That said, if you have a problem with the moderation staff and their approach you may want to take it up with them directly in a PM, rather than spouting it out here.  I'll note that while I do have the ability to move things into this place, I choose not to under any circumstance.  I leave it up to the actual moderation staff to decide that.  Be it either Darkmoon, Damaris, llearch, bill, Zina, Tapewolf or Amber herself.  I've spoken with Amber about why she doesn't come to the forums as much these days and one of the many reasons was that often times if she makes an appearance in a thread, it becomes a Q&A session.  The theory threads are the worst for this and, because she's nice, she does try and toss in tidbits here and there.  Thing is, it makes the place become a bit of a chore for her.  So, the intent is to cut that part out and make it an out of sight, out of mind thing for her.  It's still here if it's wanted and easily found, should she decide to chip in.

That said, I'm going to trust that you're mature enough to not make this post purely in an attempt to antagonize me.  You and I have crossed paths a few times and I note that you've made attempts in various DMFA related threads to call me out.  If you're attempting to do it again, it won't end well for you.

[Damaris]

No, our job isn't to encourage discussion. Our job is to make sure things don't devolve into anarchy.

It has been stated before that rampant speculation and nitpicking was frowned upon in the DMFA forum, mostly because it's a comic and that kind of activity makes this area tedious and essentially not-fun to a large number of people.  Barring the banning of a large number of people, which would most likely include you, Scow, we chose to stuff all the tedious, nitpicky stuff in one area.

[Darkmoon]

Additionally, and to further clarify:

This forum, the Clockwork Mansion, was not started as a DMFA forum. It was, originally, a forum for the Inverted Castlevania Dungeon and Castlevania RPG (my websites). DMFA was rolled in, at Miss Mab's request. As such, we approach what qualifies as "good" discussion differently -- threads that I (or the other admins) don't find to be inane or stupidly offensive are allowed to thrive and grow. Those that suck (ie, things in the Mine or the Tearooms) are tossed away due to their awful/stupid content.

You may not like this, and I can understand that. But, do realize this isn't a democracy, and while we do value input, in the end it's what we (as the admins) decide, and what we say goes.

Now, you can think, "well that's not fair." And I agree. It's a tyrannical dictatorship here (one that nominates and elects new blood from within), and so far, aside from one or two dissenters, it's worked out pretty well -- and, since those few people don't have votes, what they say really doesn't matter.

For the record, all it takes is a couple of stupid posts for us to decide a thread is no longer worthy. A thread can derail quickly or slowly over time -- how it gets there is not a concern to us. Once a thread is deemed "awful", it no longer has a right to live, and we euthanize it.

One example would be the "Tenta-cool" thread. That original author wrote in an inane and mind-numbingly stupid manner (the term "Draggie", in one of it's many retarded forms, was used), and the administration staff dispensed with it immediately upon notice. And by administration staff, I mean me.

What can you do about this situation? Nothing. This is out of your control. You can remain here, and enjoy this forum for what it is, or you may leave. That is your decision. I will state this: you have gained the notice of the moderators, and the ire of a few of them. I would suggest cooling off your tone, not only here but in the various threads you participate in, and try to think how it is that you have fallen so far so quickly.

[Mao]

A retraction:  I've had time to talk to Damaris and Darkmoon a bit, and I think that, I'm going to go back on that part where I said that I wouldn't pull threads in here.  In fact, the more I read and reconsider the situation, I think that there's something to be gained for all by my doing so.

[Scow2]

Well, now that my confusion on the matter has been mostly cleared up, could I ask for clarification on which this room is? Mao's response makes it sound like a place for those who do find the long-winded discussion and rampant speculation on Furrae's Expanded Universe that Damaris says is not-fun to many people (Giving the speculators a place to play without bothering the non-speculators), while leaving the Lost Lake Inn free for those who find the speculation bothersome. I love that use, and hope this forum grows into that instead of "The Abandoned Mine Mk II"...

[Mao]

It still is more a place for the Overboard threads to go, but it's *my* place under their rule.  It's not going to be a democracy.  It will be a dictatorship.  You will be at my whimsy and I am at theirs.

[Drayco84]

It still is more a place for the Overboard threads to go, but it's *my* place under their rule.  It's not going to be a democracy.  It will be a dictatorship.  You will be at my whimsy and I am at theirs.

Sooooo... You're a Mid-Boss, then?

[Damaris]

Yep.  Although I can't promise that people won't come in and poke the conspiracy theorists.

They make such amusing noises when you poke them.