A few concerns about the state of this community

[Gemini]

Alright, so I am going to add a couple of cents to this since it seems to have been a big deal lately. I also want to say that none of my opinions are personally directed towards anyone. I don't have any personal beefs, really. I consider a lot of people in here my friends and I want it to stay that way. I don't want to lose anyone over some nonsense. But I just want to say that I've found the recent change on this forum to be somewhat disappointing.

[quote="MalibuTrashDog"]Yeah honestly I haven't even personally attacked anyone since being let back. I was banned for making an inside joke to Amanda in the crush thread.[/quote]

Basically this is my whole problem with how things have been handled lately, and I don't know that this is even a fault of the entire staff as a whole but regardless I find it odd and really rather disconcerting that we are banning people for things like this when there's so many other things we could be doing and other important problems (including the person Malibu mentioned who was banned for some pretty serious crap despite posing as a "normal" member). To my knowledge nobody was offended by her comment and it was obviously a joke. That's not causing trouble and imo it was not deserving of a temp ban.

And again this all kind of cycles back to the whole Braveheart nonsense with the chatbox: sometimes people want to talk to each other and talk about things and nobody is forcing you to be a part of it. If you're not a fan of such jokes then don't join in. It's not really that complicated. There's no need to make a big deal out of it unless someone is deliberately being unwelcoming or hostile. I know that a lot of other people on this forum are friends with each other offsite and want to have discussions within their groups and honestly I'm fine with that, if it doesn't involve me then I just don't join in.

That's what a forum is. It's for talking. And if there's not any interesting conversations, then honestly, why bother?

Also to be fair, I haven't seen Amanda be deliberately hostile to anyone that didn't deserve it and things seem to have been pretty civil between most members. The only thing that maybe could have been construed as hostile was towards one member in particular who isn't exactly innocent. You're claiming that she's "harassing" him but so far nobody's really given any attention to how his behavior in the past has been harassing and he's still allowed to hang around without any real repercussions. In fact, people seem to be taking his side which I find confusing and kind of backwards. She might have gone a little far in all fairness but considering that nothing's really been done about him... yeah, of course things are going to be a bit tense and really I can't blame her (or anyone else) for that. In any case, it's a petty thing to ban someone for, in my opinion. Claws was not causing issues and in fact contributed quite a bit when I restarted the Fan Artist contest, but was banned over something from four years ago. Malibu was unilaterally banned over one post that really wasn't as bad as some of the things I've seen on here over the years. And etc.

If you want to get rid of people who are causing trouble then focus on the ones that are actually causing problems and who are actually causing issues between members. I don't think Amanda's it. In fact, her and Claws and Malibu have made this forum even more enjoyable for me and to several other members as well. I don't know who these people are who claim that they find her/her friends threatening but I just honestly don't really see it, sorry.

Lastly I just want to say that this isn't anything personal against the mod staff. Half of you I consider my friends and the other half I'd say I've gotten along well with in the past. I know that I am not a mod myself but I've been close to enough former and current mods to know how this site works and I have to say that I'm pretty disappointed in everything that's gone on lately. I know you all are great people, I'm not going to tell you how to do your job but you can do better than this. You shouldn't ban a contributing member over a personal beef and then let actual offenders who don't contribute much of anything to the forum stay. I don't find that fair and I don't think that reflects well on this site.

Again that's just my opinion. It's not personal, it's just the way I see all this. Regs brings up a good point, he was a former mod and I think he talks a lot of sense (and so has Flip - basically he summed this all up pretty well).

[CatchTheRain]

Okay, I'm looking through Amanda's posts right now and I don't see any instances of her being hostile. Like there are a few silly posts here and there but I just don't see how anyone could be reasonably offended by them. So I really don't know where that is coming from. I was also in the chatroom yesterday and she seemed to be getting along fine with everyone there too? I guess I just don't see where this talk of a "toxic aura" is coming from because I haven't noticed any rudeness or hostility and I have no idea who these people are that are "complaining" and "leaving". In fact it only seems to be Simbaholic that has a beef with her over some old drama...

You know I could easily report him for a bunch of stuff and say I'm leaving because he's being rude and offensive in this thread and his Custom text is triggering me, and apparently that's enough for it's an INSTANT PERMANENT BAN without a single warning. How could anyone think that's fair?

[Mikokat]

So I guess I'll toss in my two cents. I too am a longtime member who was recently allowed back after being banned. Like many others, I think nearly all of us have matured greatly in the years since those bans and all that other drama have taken place. I know I feel that I personally have, and I do think exactly the same of Amanda, who I have known from this forum since 2009. I didn't see any sign of outward hostility or vendetta from her towards anyone here, except maybe for one member and we all know exactly why that is. I feel that while a lot of us members have matured and grown in those years, the basic operation of forum leadership has remained quite the same as I remember it back in the day. I feel to this day, they still are way too rigid and controlling of what is said and done on this forum. I say this as a former moderator myself, much like Regulus. Where I modded, bans were very rarely issued. I only recall making one perma-ban in my entire stint as a moderator on this TLKPF. Keep in mind, this was back when TLKPF had equal activity as MLK. I believe that the heavy-handed tactics are too much here, and in fact have contributed to much of the drama that may have flared up. We were never as heavy-handed, and as a result we almost never had any major issues there. Just something for all of us to think about, IMHO.

[Elton John]

What is tlkpf?

[FlipMode]

[quote="The Lionvengers"]What is tlkpf?[/quote]

It's an acronym for The Lion King Pride Forum. Was an awesome little community back in the day but I think it's inactive now unfortunately.

[Timon the great]

For me, when it comes to topics like this one about this forum, what I will tell anyone who asks about what the issue from this forum ever since I joined, is not inactivity. But, the community itself.

And, that it is contributing to the inactivity issues others have posted about on this forum (not just in this topic but already in past topics in this subforum as well).

If people want this forum to actively continue on in good terms, the active community itself here has to shape up. This is straight to the point.

Since I would consider myself a long-time member as well when I joined back in 2012, I've clearly already seen the evidences of member's opinions and interests on something they like either being legitimately attacked or messed around with (a lot of it I remember from the past also was mostly out of emotion). Not only that, I've also already seen the word is out there now about My Lion King outside of here on other sites. And I feel that this is also a contributing factor to the current inactivity problems. Especially in the Lion King forums/subforums. But that doesn't mean our posts aren't actively being seen by a lot of random internet guests (and potential new members) day in and day out on this forum.

Even I myself have found my posts and interest about Timon being messed around and belittled as well already in the past here. It may have only been once or twice. But it still doesn't make it any less of a community problem.

So overall, this is for sure. New members aren't going to feel comfortable at all posting here or in the Lion King areas if an older member is just going to give a biased or negative reply to their post/interest. Especially if that newer member wholly expresses their high interest in a character or film that they really like. Such as this topic example here on this forum: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=33905

I've already been through that already, and personally, it really wasn't pleasant at all. No joke or drama whatsoever.

In fact, the topic example in the above paragraph just goes to show that the environment on this forum is that much less friendly and comfortable for someone (and pretty much anyone) to freely express their interest in a subject or character in their posts. Especially about anything Lion King since that's what the forum is really about. On top of that, there's no reason why any fan should disrespect something or any character from this franchise because this is a forum built on LK after all.

Yet, I do agree with others in this topic to an extent who've said that another problem also is the staff. But I also personally feel though that from what I've seen in these last 4 years, favoritism could indeed be involved as well. But I'm just not going to dive into this subject on here.

[CatchTheRain]

[quote="Timon the great"]For me, when it comes to topics like this one about this forum, what I will tell anyone who asks about what the issue from this forum ever since I joined, is not inactivity. But, the community itself.

And, that it is contributing to the inactivity issues others have posted about on this forum (not just in this topic but already in past topics in this subforum as well).

If people want this forum to actively continue on in good terms, the active community itself here has to shape up. This is straight to the point.

Since I would consider myself a long-time member as well when I joined back in 2012, I've clearly already seen the evidences of member's opinions and interests on something they like either being legitimately attacked or messed around with (a lot of it I remember from the past also was mostly out of emotion). Not only that, I've also already seen the word is out there now about My Lion King outside of here on other sites. And I feel that this is also a contributing factor to the current inactivity problems. Especially in the Lion King forums/subforums. But that doesn't mean our posts aren't actively being seen by a lot of random internet guests (and potential new members) day in and day out on this forum.

Even I myself have found my posts and interest about Timon being messed around and belittled as well already in the past here. It may have only been once or twice. But it still doesn't make it any less of a community problem.

So overall, this is for sure. New members aren't going to feel comfortable at all posting here or in the Lion King areas if an older member is just going to give a biased or negative reply to their post/interest. Especially if that newer member wholly expresses their high interest in a character or film that they really like. Such as this topic example here on this forum: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=33905

I've already been through that already, and personally, it really wasn't pleasant at all. No joke or drama whatsoever.

In fact, the topic example in the above paragraph just goes to show that the environment on this forum is that much less friendly and comfortable for someone (and pretty much anyone) to freely express their interest in a subject or character in their posts. Especially about anything Lion King since that's what the forum is really about. On top of that, there's no reason why any fan should disrespect something or any character from this franchise because this is a forum built on LK after all.

Yet, I do agree with others in this topic to an extent who've said that another problem also is the staff. But I also personally feel though that from what I've seen in these last 4 years, favoritism could indeed be involved as well. But I'm just not going to dive into this subject on here.[/quote]

Timon kinda sucks tho

[FlipMode]

[quote="Timon the great"]For me, when it comes to topics like this one about this forum, what I will tell anyone who asks about what the issue from this forum ever since I joined, is not inactivity. But, the community itself.

And, that it is contributing to the inactivity issues others have posted about on this forum (not just in this topic but already in past topics in this subforum as well).

If people want this forum to actively continue on in good terms, the active community itself here has to shape up. This is straight to the point.

Since I would consider myself a long-time member as well when I joined back in 2012, I've clearly already seen the evidences of member's opinions and interests on something they like either being legitimately attacked or messed around with (a lot of it I remember from the past also was mostly out of emotion). Not only that, I've also already seen the word is out there now about My Lion King outside of here on other sites. And I feel that this is also a contributing factor to the current inactivity problems. Especially in the Lion King forums/subforums. But that doesn't mean our posts aren't actively being seen by a lot of random internet guests (and potential new members) day in and day out on this forum.

Even I myself have found my posts and interest about Timon being messed around and belittled as well already in the past here. It may have only been once or twice. But it still doesn't make it any less of a community problem.

So overall, this is for sure. New members aren't going to feel comfortable at all posting here or in the Lion King areas if an older member is just going to give a biased or negative reply to their post/interest. Especially if that newer member wholly expresses their high interest in a character or film that they really like. Such as this topic example here on this forum: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=33905

I've already been through that already, and personally, it really wasn't pleasant at all. No joke or drama whatsoever.

In fact, the topic example in the above paragraph just goes to show that the environment on this forum is that much less friendly and comfortable for someone (and pretty much anyone) to freely express their interest in a subject or character in their posts. Especially about anything Lion King since that's what the forum is really about. On top of that, there's no reason why any fan should disrespect something or any character from this franchise because this is a forum built on LK after all.

Yet, I do agree with others in this topic to an extent who've said that another problem also is the staff. But I also personally feel though that from what I've seen in these last 4 years, favoritism could indeed be involved as well. But I'm just not going to dive into this subject on here.[/quote]


All I got from that was "I like Timon and I get upset when other people don't like Timon."

[Moka]

Hey all. I know my own activity or lack thereof recently may make it seem otherwise, but I do care very much about this community. I know that a great many of you do, too. Otherwise you wouldn't stick around for years! I know that the staff and I are dedicated to maintaining (and growing!) the community for as long as we're able. That's why we're excited to see new members joining and welcome them with open arms and why we've been lifting the bans of long-time members who are now just as dedicated as we are to MLK.

Recently I was made aware of something that immediately put things into a greater perspective. Reflecting on this, I realized that recent events all came down to miscommunication and a few slip ups. Things can go downhill pretty quickly in such a scenario: people start segregating themselves, behaving rashly, creating a bunch of drama, etc. When active members start leaving because of it is when the staff need to start weighing their options. Members that have been previously banned are brought back on a probationary basis. If their activity is perceived as noncontributory or harmful to a degree that even a small percentage of active members stop wanting to partake in the community, then we all lose out. We made a choice based on perception. It's the best we can do as humans. Had I known what I learned tonight at the time, I would've swayed the decision in a different direction. There was just missing information that was crucial to not having this blow up or even become an issue in the first place.

I plead with you all to talk with the moderators and I (in Telegram or PM) about any decision we make that seems completely ass-backwards. Give us any information you think is important about how to help the community. Report things you see that do not help the community. We just need to start communicating better.

[moonsugar33]

Lurker chiming in to give my two cents: The forum seems nice. It's quiet, but it's accessible, unlike other TLK forums. I like most of the members, and while the drama is mildly interesting, it's not really noticeable.