For all to see.

[Mortician175]

Ladies and Gentlemen of TFP. I am a member of this community. I am one of
the original particpants of the furry pound founders, when this community
was originally a small group of refugee's from CC2's. Back then it was
just a small group of friends. We had Witchie and company as the admins
and creators. We struggled off at first and then slowly began to grow.
With people realiseing the shit storm that was CC2's servers. However, as
i'm sad to say we are slowly heading in that direction. Not so much on
the admins. But some of our members.

I realise by this point i'm going to make alot of enemies within TFP to
the point where i may be even forced to leave. But it does not matter to
me. What matters to me is that TFP becomes AND continues to be a home for
many furs and non furs alike. Our Admins have achieved what they set out
to do in the beginning. The problem is now, that our admin team is based
off more friendship than anything. A majority of admins have been or are
close friends with one another. Which i have no trouble with. But would
prefer it to be based off of competence and ability to admin and take
care of things.

We are at 1,122 Members. Thats people from all over the world. Our
admins for the most part are too soft with the exception of a few. I will
not say names for the sake of people getting caught in the cross fire.
I've only talked with a small handful of people. This is my own post, not
influenced by others. At this point we've all learned not all members of
this community are decent friendly people. No we've run into some real
charachters (not in the good way). Our community has gone from
Switzerland to Mother Russia in terms of population in the course of a
few months. The slaps on the wrists that most of our admins give is no
longer going to work. Nor is a tolitarian admin team. A balance needs to
be achieved. Which is why i think some of our admins should step down
from their positions, mostly because they were appointed by friendship
rather than ability.

I don't like to be the one to speak out, but someone has to say these
things or TFP will become a barren wasteland no one will want to be apart
of. I don't want to see this group go the way of my old Sven Co-Op group.
I really don't. Watching a great group wrench it'self apart is a terrible
thing to behold, Watching friends become enemies just because they don't
think the same way.

I am trying to word this as well as possible, i'm being polite and kind,
and i expect the same courtesy. I don't want to speak out against the
admin team but for the betterment of TFP i feel i must. This is my opinion
and what i think needs to be done. I don't expect a position of power nor
do i seek one. I just want to see TFP become better and stronger (and
faster *break dances*)

Now that the issue is out in the open. Lets get to work on;


POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

To the first issue of admins. I suggest some of the admins step down.
Half our admin team is no longer active and is not on the servers enough
to enforce the rules. Mods do what they can, but it generally devolves
into a he said she said arguement in which the problem is not solved.

To the sterner rules. We need some firmer guidelines and enforcment. This
means larger admin and mod team. 12 or 20 people vs over 1000 is not good
odds in our favour people. Perhaps a strike system and perhaps (as in 1 2
3 you're out, not storm troopers) harsher consequences. This includes ban
time (not long, only for extreme cases) Kick time perhaps, but no
permanence. A Probation program should be implitmented. I realise this is
a community and not a clan. But with how many people we have, no longer
are we able to treat it as such.


Our admins should be picked based on ability and skill. Not who they're
rubbing butts with frequently. I apologise for wording it as thus in
advanced but it has to be said for the point to get across. Which is why
unfortutnately is another problem of which i cannot figure out. Even if
we were to have admin elections. It would be nothing more than a
glorified popularity contest.

On the note of access to the community. SOME and i put this lightly.
Screening should be done. It woun't weed out the people we do not want in
our community entirely, but it will help out somewhat and alleviate the
problem slightly for our admins and reduce the amount of drama slightly
(in the best of situations significantly)

Now. On the fault of the members..... You have admins to help you yes.
But if it is a simple argument, do not get the admins involved until it
is personnel. If someone calls you an ass hole or something, shrug it
off, flip em the single digit salute and keep walking forward. If it
becomes harassment THEN bring the admin's in. Situations like that is
when admins should be contacted.


I will say this here and now. I am willing to give my membership for
this post because i know many will be pissed at me, including a majority
of admins AND their friends. But i am doing this for the betterment of
TFP. If i should be asked or even forced to leave for this then so be it.
I want to see TFP succeed and be strong once more. We have such wonderful
potential people, to be a home for all kinds of furries as we are now.
But we have to be a little more strict with so many people we have now.
Gods willing. People will read this post with a clear head and read it as
a good intent. Not to usurp the powers that be or to form it to my own
will.

thusly.

If this is the last time i'm able to post on the forums. Then i bid you
all a fond farewell. I've spoken my piece and will go into the shadows
calm and quiet. No fight, no fuss. I've had a great time with you all and
a wonderful run. But i fear this needs to be said for the betterment of
our community.

And this is directed at our admins and for our people of TFP to read and
absorb into their minds.

"Leaders must be tough enough to fight, tender enough to cry, human
enough to make mistakes, humble enough to admit them, strong enough to
absorb the pain, and resilient enough to bounce back and keep on moving."

[Witchiebunny]

First, Mort, we are not about to force you out of the community just for speaking your piece. That's not who we are nor is it what we're about, and we will *never* be about that.

Now as to certain comments:

I will not ask any of the admin community to step down. We choose our admins not based on who we've "rubbed butts with recently" but on who we can trust to help run the community in the way we would like it to be run. There are a certain set of factors that we look for, and we have to be comfortable with the person we're nominating, and this is why the admins tend to be friends-we know each other well enough to know whether the person is trustworthy or not. This is not to say all friends will get a crack at Admin (indeed, I have many friends within the community who I would never dream of appointing to an admin position), nor is it to say that non-friends of mine can't be mods or admins (I didn't know Elrabin from Adam when he was brought onto the team) but on the whole, admins are friends because we know them and therefore know if they have what we are looking for. Plain as that.

Secondly...I won't conduct screenings of members either. In a community of 1000+ members, there will *always* be drama, there is little to nothing we can do to avoid that and it gets into very dangerous territory to begin weeding out those we think *might* cause drama just because of some arbitrary guideline. Our members can invite anyone they want and I am not switching it to Admin invite only because quite frankly, we don't need that. Every person who gets in here deserves the basic respect and right to fuck up and cause drama *before* we usher them out, rather than not being given the chance in the first place. Having a screening process puts us one step closer to somewhere I do *not* want TFP to be.

As for rules and such, that is something we as the admin team are handling now (even more so now that I am able to game again) and will be taking care of on our own as we see the need.

[Purplecat]

[Arcalane]