How Do I.......

[Vinifera7]

These power trips are exactly why I quit contributing to ModEnc. Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not just trying to bitch Ren, and I may decide to contribute more in the future. It's just that you have a particular way about you sometimes that is a real turn off.

In fact, I agree with you on the precept that newbies should at least make an attempt to solve problems on their own before consulting help on forums anonymously. Whether this person did in fact make the attempt isn't obvious, but it's a little harsh to condemn people for trying to help.

At least now this person will know how to solve that particular problem should it arise in the future, and not have to ask again. Better yet, this person will now be able to help others that experience the same problem.

[Renegade]

These power trips are exactly why I quit contributing to ModEnc. Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not just trying to bitch Ren, and I may decide to contribute more in the future. It's just that you have a particular way about you sometimes that is a real turn off.

"Power trips"? Excuse me for believing I might actually be in control of the resources I pay and the webspace I am legally accountable for

About ModEnc: I assume from the logs that you are referring to the Template:TTL issue - to make it short: I stand by what I said:

To get all panicky and assuming turning the whole thing into a link "was NOT intentional", when the comment says "If this works, the entire templated expression should form the link", and an example is added that clearly shows the whole thing being a link, then it's pretty fucking obvious that, not only was it intentional, but it was actually the original reason for the edit - the presentation rewrite was just 'cause I was there anyway.

Oh, and just to make this clear: You were the one who just guessed what my intention was, assumed I did not meet them, and immediately started a page bitching about wiki-wide "mistakes" I made.
Had you just stopped for one second and read what I said about the damn revision, you'd have known you're wrong and, at least from an intentional point of view, everything was fine.

In addition, I fail to see the "power trip" in that. No admin force used, no threats, no nothing. Just the rather direct hint that, at that point in time, the only problem on ModEnc was your decision to not read the revision comment and instead assume everything was FUBAR.

Then again, you might be referring to our very first encounter. I seem to have deleted the dozens of revisions for the database's sake, but there, too, I fail to see the "power trip" element. I was angry while I banned you, yes, but

1. I didn't ban you because I was angry and needed "the admin feeling", but because you filled up the DB with dozens of revisions, and
   
2. there, too, my actions where a response to a previous faux pas committed by you.
   

Maybe our ways are just incompatible, but when you publically accuse me of having "power trips" and blame your decisions on them, you could at least go into some more details.

In fact, I agree with you on the precept that newbies should at least make an attempt to solve problems on their own before consulting help on forums anonymously. Whether this person did in fact make the attempt isn't obvious, but it's a little harsh to condemn people for trying to help.

I didn't condemn anyone for trying to help. On the topic of helping, I clearly said "Hints allowed." - I just didn't want anyone to give him a full walkthrough after he obviously didn't try much to fix the problem himself.
What I do condemn people for is publically undermining my administrative authority on my very own forums.

At least now this person will know how to solve that particular problem should it arise in the future, and not have to ask again. Better yet, this person will now be able to help others that experience the same problem.

No. At least not in the way, or for the reasons you think. Do you know why the user might be able to do that in the future? Because I marginally touched the real problem in context every now and then.
If you take my own posts out of the picture, he's left thinking that whenever land wrongly lies above other land, he has to go finish a cliff somewhere. Which is absolute bullshit. In this very case, it is very likely that the intended terrain on the map would have included a ramp. But that was not his question, and neither is the statement "you need to complete that cliff" factually correct.
Had he been left with hints, and found out about the relationships of height levels, cliffs, and the problems that may arise from them, he would actually have understood what was going on, and would have been qualified to help and teach others on it. Instead, his mind now says "Cliffs are The Problem. Ramps are The Solution.".

[Vinifera7]

You can dabble in definitions and semantics to justify your actions all you like. However I'll make this perfectly clear: I just don't like your attitude, and that's all it comes down to.

[Renegade]

You're not, by chance, Christian, are you?
They, too, tend to discard pages of logically argumented posts and reply something akin to "because I say so!"...

Since we're being "perfectly clear":
Everything you do on my webspace is directly in relation to the questions "How much money does Renegade have to pay?" and "Will Renegade go to jail for this?" - so I don't really give a fuck whether you like my attitude or not. I. will. retain. control. of. my. server. Because if ModEnc-spam uses up all space, I am the one who has to pay for more. Because if anyone here expresses racist opinions, I am the one the Feds are gonna visit. Because if EA decides to hunt down and punish those responsible for RockPatch, I am the one who'll get the message and who'll have to pay their costs.

So I'm very, utterly, totally sorry if I hurt your feelings, but it's totally irrelevant for my administrative decisions.

[ComradeSpike]

The modding community is no longer getting newbies, it's just getting n00bs who want a link to rules.ini and a tutorial to anything and everything. Topics like these aren't leading to discussion; They are simply, 'Can some pro modder fix this for me so I don't have to take the time?'

Frankly I think REN's rules (hopefully) discourage this behavior, so I support and applaud him. You guys mean well, but bad things can come from the best of intentions.

[Blade]

The modding community is no longer getting newbies, it's just getting n00bs who want a link to rules.ini and a tutorial to anything and everything. Topics like these aren't leading to discussion; They are simply, 'Can some pro modder fix this for me so I don't have to take the time?'

Frankly I think REN's rules (hopefully) discourage this behavior, so I support and applaud him. You guys mean well, but bad things can come from the best of intentions.

This distinction between n00b and newbie seems to get fuzzier all the time in this community, like the hardened elite core is getting more and more conservative. tmapm might have given out slightly more information that Ren would have liked, but on the other hand Ren didn't give out anywhere near enough to ensure the original poster was able to solve his own problem.

As for the people explaining too much 'meaning well' when it could go wrong, how about Ren 'meaning well' with his crusade against those he views as n00bs.

[Renegade]

[...] but on the other hand Ren didn't give out anywhere near enough to ensure the original poster was able to solve his own problem.

He never even tried, so how do you know?
And it's not like I wouldn't have given him more hints if he hadn't got it...
Although I still say that, when the ground is drawn above the cliff, it's pretty fucking obvious the problem exists because the ground is above the cliff...one shouldn't need help to figure that one out.

[...] how about Ren 'meaning well' with his crusade against those he views as n00bs.

I don't mean well. I am trying to prevent them from taking over and killing my forums like they did with DZ.
Ever seen Starship Troopers 2? It's a lot like that. Outside are millions and millions and millions of rippers, spammers and n00bs, and inside, in our tiny little fortress, all we have are our gates and perimeter burn.
That analogy also shows the true nature of this "war" - it's not a crusade. It's a battle for survival.


</epic>

[Modder666]

*claps* Well put, Renegade.