Disappointed

[SaintsManiac-vol.2]

Maybe this is obvious but would you say significantly more people were banned from this forum versus the others?

Quite a few people who were active on the News and Rumor forum were banned along with Ryan.

 

[gmi3804]

I wish OP would change the format of this thread title to "DISappointed."

 

[Tonyz]

Everyone in the brand community participated in something that helped elevate and enable someone who hurt others... I think we should really be more concerned with how to respond to that. Participation at this point sends a message, and I hope everyone can reflect on the message their participation will send.

...I’ll say my part. I had suspicions...

Second, I noticed Dustin seemed uncomfortable whenever the relationship was mentioned...

Third, I heard stories before and after I left (not necessarily from the current team). The community is full of fans and clients, and gossip is a currency. But I also saw things. People came and went from the company. Who is to say that some of them didn’t attempt to reach out and say, “Hey, bro! Do you need a life preserver” before they suddenly disappeared? Because, ya know, I heard stories about that too.

Regardless of my take, we have people right now ringing first-hand alarms on center stage. In my opinion, that is what needs attention. ... Did we see something and dismiss it as a good hair day? It’s a good question to ask, but the more important question is what are we going to do with this information we have now? It’s more than speculation at this point, and *its* seat is in our lap. My $.02.

JL's openness and honesty is so appreciated.

A member of the team saying she had suspicions, noticed particular uncomfortabilities, heard stories, feels it's appropriate to ask if people at the time dismissed warning signs, and is now primarily concerned with how to respond and be better going forward...

I'm sure some people on here will not be happy with these comments, and wish they weren't pointed out... but it's a lot tougher to dismiss them coming from someone who was there at the time, and expressed herself with grace, humility, and offering not the smallest semblance of attacking anyone on the current team.

 

[JD80b]

I haven't posted here in 3+ years but I left when there was a big mod purge a few years back. Interesting turn of events.

 

[run217]

As the days roll on, I think the lack of acknowledgement/statement from John is a bit strange (beyond the one sent directly to booked customers). If he truly cannot comment on anything legally, even a statement to that effect would seem appropriate given his leadership position. Or even re-sharing that statement about where payments go somewhere on the boards? It has left many of the team members in the crossfire as people have come at them for comment.

 

[KellyC1]

B-I-N-G-O.

Starting the conversation with dishonesty ends the conversation.

Wow. Universally true and succinct. Thank you.

 

[MrsDanielle]

It is toxic, but there's something to be said about the level of open discussion that's allowed there. Because Sean and Dustin's stories could NEVER be told here, and discussions about any possible toxicity regarding Pete would be instantly squashed, and you'd probably be punished/criticized for daring to vocalize it.

Going forward, I believe these boards need to allow more free discourse. No attacking others or anything like that. But we should be allowed to talk a little more freely than we have been able to in the past. Because this shows that mandatory silence allows toxicity to spread, and open dialogue allows it to be exposed, processed, and handled.

The main reason why I posted so little over the years is because of censorship. If the mods open things up a bit, I think more of us would stick around and contribute a more.

 

[Hunterr]

As the days roll on, I think the lack of acknowledgement/statement from John is a bit strange (beyond the one sent directly to booked customers). If he truly cannot comment on anything legally, even a statement to that effect would seem appropriate given his leadership position. Or even re-sharing that statement about where payments go somewhere on the boards? It has left many of the team members in the crossfire as people have come at them for comment.

i imagine we'll get something after the California event. They cant NOT do another live show without acknowledging the elephant in the room.

Also, funny thing about all this...
there's still a HUGE amount of listeners/viewers who have no idea about all this.
Not everyone is on disboards, checks youtube comments, etc.
And the Dis isn't huge enough to have it be a trending topic on facebook/twitter, so it hasn't exactly blown up there.
So if you're not as plugged in, this is just not on your radar.

I haven't been on disboards in a while, but i do still listen to the main show and Universal Edition weekly (more so audio than the video version).
If i hadn't opened youtube to see Ryno was doing a livestream when i did the other night, i would still be in the dark about all this.

 

[Hunterr]

The main reason why I posted so little over the years is because of censorship. If the mods open things up a bit, I think more of us would stick around and contribute a more.

there was a time when asking why a person left the show was kind of frowned upon by mods.
Sure, we were never obligated to know why a person left if they didnt want to share (when someone is fired or quit from my job, my bosses dont have to tell me the reason necessarily).

But it was always odd how some members got the red carpet treatment when they left (ie Dustin, Steve), some got a "they aren't with us anymore and we wish them good luck" statements (ie Oliver, Shaun), and some they pretended never existed in the first place (ie Tyler, Katrina, Charles, Er1c Gr0ss).

I remember when Shaun left/got fired (??), he posted something to the effect of "anyone know any job openings anywhere lol".
Wonder what the tea was there...

EDIT: omg, why do i retain all this information . I swear, we retain so much useless knowledge about podcasts and vloggers than we do our own families. Parasocial relationships are a trip. But i feel good that i at least recognize it.
But then again, people retain useless knowledge about tv shows/movies/etc.

 

[mustinjourney]

Discussion of moderation here is a nice byproduct of what’s going on. Nobody is getting a statement from John until John is ready, but in the meantime all of the past banned coming out of the DisBoard ground like Thriller has been great. I am in the group that almost never posted here before this conversation because it seemed pointless. Most discussions were just an echo chamber of Dis koolaid. I don’t even see as a company why you’d want that, some companies pay for this type of honest feedback. People are giving it up for free and getting thrown out?

When a company is run by narcissist(s), they don’t take kindly to criticisms. It ruins their worldview and hurts their ego.


So it must be stamped out immediately.

Plus some moderators get on power trips. They won’t even let you ask questions as to why you got demerits. I once got dinged for something that wasn’t in their list of “don’t say/do” and I asked for clarification as to why I got dinged, and that was met with “questioning our decision can result in further points.”

Truth be told-the heavy moderating on this website contributed to Pete being able to keep his power for so long.

 

[SaintsManiac-vol.2]

When a company is run by narcissist(s), they don’t take kindly to criticisms. It ruins their worldview and hurts their ego.


So it must be stamped out immediately.

Plus some moderators get on power trips. They won’t even let you ask questions as to why you got demerits. I once got dinged for something that wasn’t in their list of “don’t say/do” and I asked for clarification as to why I got dinged, and that was met with “questioning our decision can result in further points.”

Truth be told-the heavy moderating on this website contributed to Pete being able to keep his power for so long.

Yes to all of this.

 

[JELLYROLLS4LIFE]

I just have to say based on past policies I am STUNNED they are allowing the things shared on this thread. I have to assume there has been instructions by someone to leave things be for the most part.

 

[Chili327]

I just have to say based on past policies I am STUNNED they are allowing the things shared on this thread. I have to assume there has been instructions by someone to leave things be for the most part.

I'm guessing if they started banning (and frivolously censoring), they would destroy the board by driving everyone to another board.

 

[ainswokp]

i imagine we'll get something after the California event. They cant NOT do another live show without acknowledging the elephant in the room.

Also, funny thing about all this...
there's still a HUGE amount of listeners/viewers who have no idea about all this.
Not everyone is on disboards, checks youtube comments, etc.
And the Dis isn't huge enough to have it be a trending topic on facebook/twitter, so it hasn't exactly blown up there.
So if you're not as plugged in, this is just not on your radar.

I haven't been on disboards in a while, but i do still listen to the main show and Universal Edition weekly (more so audio than the video version).
If i hadn't opened youtube to see Ryno was doing a livestream when i did the other night, i would still be in the dark about all this.

It seems like there should be some sort of pinned summary, but I don't see them wanting to do that because the speed of information is on their side while they get their ducks in a row. I do think if and when a broader response comes, it should be publicized on their platforms to some degree because it's a bad look if you lean on how slowly core followers are understanding this. Once they figure it out, knowing there was some level quieting after the fact is going to be worse. That said I fully understand they are trying to sell something, it's not realistic we're going to get the homepage as a giant image of Pete's face with an X over it.

 

[john7994]

Truth be told-the heavy moderating on this website contributed to Pete being able to keep his power for so long.

To be fair, I think the adoration of the fans of "Pete's rants" and other "takedowns" of the "right" targets contributed far more ...

 

[Mle8308]

I’m surprised they didn’t have statements prepared quite some time ago. The AMEX lawsuit was filed back in March and is public record. The other allegations (though I don’t think they are just allegations) started to come out on other “places” awhile back, places we know they read (they have mentioned the place in past Patreon shows). None of this is new information. Being overly generous, it’s at least 6 weeks old, but realistically much older. Sad situation all around, no sympathy for one who will not be named.

 

[JimmyV_2.0]

If you do incur an infraction, you will be notified. If you wish to question or appeal this decision, please keep in mind that your correspondence is subject to the same regulations. At any time you may contact the board administration at admin@wdwinfo.com.

There may be times where a situation develops that is not covered in our infraction system. For those cases we reserve the right to take whatever action is needed in order to ensure that our guidelines are followed.

​

Title	Points	Expires
Argumentative Sarcastic Posts	10	15 Day(s)
Unapproved Advertisement	20	15 Day(s)
Minor Personal Attack	20	15 Day(s)
Political/Religious Comment	20	15 Day(s)
Inappropriate Link	30	30 Day(s)
Filter Violation	30	30 Day(s)
Restarting a closed thread	30	30 Day(s)
Major Personal Attack	40	30 Day(s)
Attack on a moderator	60	30 Day(s)

This is where I fell down the well, and even Lassie couldn't get me out. I felt like the The Man in Kafka's "The Trial". When your correspondence with the Webmaster during the appeal process is held to the same standard as a post, there is no way out.

WM: "You made a political post. 20 points for you!"
Me: "No I didn't. I made a reference to Nate Silver who is one of the foremost autorities on sports odds and betting."
WM. "Nate Silver does election forecasting so I consider your post political. And now you are being Argumentative. 10 more points for you!"
Me: "Well now you are just being ridiculous and obstinate. Perhaps you didn't know that Nate Silver was involved in sports odds making, but now you do, so I assume that you will reverse your decision."
WM: "You have now engaged in a Minor Persona Attack. 20 more points for you! You are now up to 50 points."
Me: "Who do I need to contact to discuss this further? You are obvioulsy incapable of understanding this issue."
WM: "That was an Attack On A Moderator. 60 more points for you! Buh-Bye!!"

And that was it. Banished as a result of a questionable 20 point post, which let to 90 more points incurred during the appeal process. Really hard to advance a legitimate appeal if doing so is considered "Argumentative" and an "Attack". Isn't an appeal, by its very nature "argumentative?" But I promise to do better.

 

[mustinjourney]

To be fair, I think the adoration of the fans of "Pete's rants" and other "takedowns" of the "right" targets contributed far more ...

This is true. But the stans got more power bc counter arguments were not allowed.

It’s almost like free speech is an important, bedrock principle that helps to prevent abuses of power.

 

[GAN]

Truth be told-the heavy moderating on this website contributed to Pete being able to keep his power for so long.

Huh?? I don't see the correlation between the two -he owns the Boards, it's his vision. He can moderate the Boards any way he sees fit. About the only thing that would've seen him step aside would be the current situation -and that's only because it threatens the livelihood of so many others. Whether he does is still to be determined....

 

[rchristiansen]

Also, funny thing about all this...
there's still a HUGE amount of listeners/viewers who have no idea about all this.
Not everyone is on disboards, checks youtube comments, etc.
And the Dis isn't huge enough to have it be a trending topic on facebook/twitter, so it hasn't exactly blown up there.
So if you're not as plugged in, this is just not on your radar.

True -- I learned about that other site last year, and even registered to see what was going on. But then it just seemed too mean, so unregistered.

I only found about the latest stories because I follow the DVC subreddit and something about posted about the DVC fan show and I followed the trail.

But yes - lots of people still don't know.