[Tommyboy71]

I think that if an open IAA thread is put back up here, it should be moderated by an impartial Mod i.e. Someone who does not feel as if they have been "wronged"* by any past committee or committee member.

I would like to see Steve or even a non-airsoft Mod for the job. As it is an information channel for a Sports membership and committee, I cannot see why this would not be possible. This person should be free from any coersion for moderation decisions made.

There is too much history between the majority of the current mods and the past IAA committes/committee members for impartial moderation to take place. I don't say this to stir the pot but simply to state a fact.

My 2 cents. Do with it as you please.

* Wronged = online or face to face slagging matches, personal grudges etc.

[Steve]

If the other mods agree to that then no problem there Tommy.

Good suggestion.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by Steve

If the other mods agree to that then no problem there Tommy.

Good suggestion.

Just FYI, we don't have consensus on this so it's not a runner.

[Private Snafu]

Wow that's a bit mad, is there any particular reason why the other mods are objecting to an unbiased discussion regarding the IAA?

[Steve]

They're not- we just didn't reach unanimous agreement on the proposal that I mod the thread without their input - totally understandable.

[Lemming]

Originally Posted by Private Snafu

Wow that's a bit mad, is there any particular reason why the other mods are objecting to an unbiased discussion regarding the IAA?

I should imagine because

• It'll work until someone disagrees with the impartial mods decision and thus begin the accusations of bias
• The vbulletin software may not be able to handle such granularity of mod privileges, i.e. either you are mod for a forum or not, not individual threads.
• If boards.ie starts starts trying to appeal to fuzzy perceptions of never having been "wronged", well then moderator selection descends into popularity contest. It's like asking a criminal which of his mates he'd like to be judge at their court case.

edit: or as Steve said above (beating me to it).

[Private Snafu]

So ideally we need a mod who has no connection to sites, or grievances with posters here.

Just a suggestion but maybe we could get Sparks or another Cmod (if their workload isn't to big) to cover the thread in its beginning on a trail basis?

[Steve]

Well, that'd be me. I've no affiliations with any airsoft factions (and I'm not suggesting other mods have)

I think the way forward here is in the lap of the forum users and their ability to post without being anal - to put it mildly.

[fayer]

Originally Posted by Steve

Just FYI, we don't have consensus on this so it's not a runner.

That in itself is interesting, mod's that are perceived as not being impartial unwilling to voluntarily recuse them selves from actioning such topics. Why would anyone want to be moderating such topics knowing their involvement would be controversial when other impartial people are available to take moderation actions with clean hands, leaving boards for discussion of the topic and not the actions of moderators.

The amount of time and effort being spent talking about the moderation of the Airsoft forum is itself becoming a clear statement on the issue.

[Steve]

Not unwilling at all, read my post again.

[fayer]

Originally Posted by Steve

Not unwilling at all, read my post again.

Maybe a bad choice of words, but the thesis remains the same that the controversial Mods still want to be able to mod the topics that they appear to be biased towards.

[Inari]

Lads, I am sorry to keep wading into this thread and stating the same point over and over again, but I really feel like it needs reiteration.

Why do we feel that we need extra rules and regulations for a discussion topic, on a discussion forum?

You all need to ask yourselves that question, and think hard. Is it because there are topics you don't like, or that you fear that there is potential for possible problems? I use the double hypothetical on purpose...because although it has proven itself problematic in the past, it is still pure conjecture.

The IAA are the National Governing Body for airsoft. This is an airsoft forum. This airsoft forum is hosted on Boards.ie. Boards.ie has rules in place against personal attacks, defamation and overall post guidelines. Moderators exist to enforce the guidelines and not to decide what can/can not be discussed based on their own preconceptions. Once it does not violate the rules of Boards.ie, and is on topic to the forum, then seriously, one more time; where is the problem?

If people get out of line, and start accusing people of illegal acts, and are indulging in defamation, then deal with it as it rises. Please don't just outright ban something based on a perception of possible problems. Surely we could just remove the ban on IAA discussion, which was seemingly removed when we were discussing IAA-related subjects in the past few months, and then if it goes tits up, we just go back to the dream world and forbid anything IAA related.

I really do not see the big deal, perhaps I am alone in this.

[Dogwatch]

Originally Posted by fayer

That in itself is interesting, mod's that are perceived as not being impartial unwilling to voluntarily recuse them selves from actioning such topics. Why would anyone want to be moderating such topics knowing their involvement would be controversial when other impartial people are available to take moderation actions with clean hands, leaving boards for discussion of the topic and not the actions of moderators.

The amount of time and effort being spent talking about the moderation of the Airsoft forum is itself becoming a clear statement on the issue.

This is part of the problem, the perception of some posters about the impartiality/partiality of the Mod team without any foundation. It is assumed that association with a particular site is evidence of bias. This is nonsense, much the same as being a member of a team is evidence of bias also.

If you are truly interested in the future of the IAA, then having a thread here should not be a problem. However,if past battles, prejudices and point scoring are all that you wish to discuss then maybe another site would be better suited.

The rules for discussion of topics on this site apply to all users equally and will applied without bias.

[fayer]

Originally Posted by Dogwatch

This is part of the problem, the perception of some posters about the impartiality/partiality of the Mod team without any foundation. It is assumed that association with a particular site is evidence of bias. This is nonsense, much the same as being a member of a team is evidence of bias also.

If you are truly interested in the future of the IAA, then having a thread here should not be a problem. However,if past battles, prejudices and point scoring are all that you wish to discuss then maybe another site would be better suited.

The rules for discussion of topics on this site apply to all users equally and will applied without bias.

To to be clear, I am for discussion of the IAA on here.

The perception is not without base, this cannot be denied.

[Dogwatch]

Originally Posted by fayer

To to be clear, I am for discussion of the IAA on here.

Good, we can make progress.

The perception is not without base, this cannot be denied.

So you and your fellow team mates are biased against the Moderators because some of them played at a particular site....... Perhaps you would like to tell us the reasoning behind this .