(This has been cut & paste and edited from two of my posts on the forums regarding this subject.)
Okay, I officially give up. People can't even be bothered to look for forums to suit their discussion needs, so they dump their threads in Extended Discussions just because it's at the top of the forum listing... and because the moderation team is comprised of Gaia users like ourselves, who also use Gaia to hang out and relax or have fun on, they haven't been exactly placing a priority on fulfilling their duties in ED... and then they get upset and hide their online status when someone gets angry and starts yelling (understandable, but still) not a lot is done about the reports. Now, understand, I'm not saying every single moderator is guilty of this (I have evidence of exactly two paying attention to reports), these new users that refuse to read so much as a forum description are more so at fault. Really; how hard is it to read a simple description before clicking on a forum name?
I will continue reporting 'til I'm blue in the face, but as far as participation is concerned; it's simply not worth my time.
I started out coming here with the thought of "oh, hey, a forum made to facilitate intelligent discussion; neat-o. I have some where to talk now", but then I lost my internet for three months and come back to n00bs posting one word posts every three minutes, insubstantial fluff conversations, and rehashes of the same old topics (have you ever counted the abortion threads that are here?) - and now there's some moron posting the kind of spam you expect in your regular email junk box who hasn't been gotten rid of yet and I just can't take it. I'm gonna stick to my guilds and the arts forums.
Before anyone starts bitching at me for not attempting to contribute to the small amount of correctly-placed topics; I don't make threads simply because my interests are not generally anyone else's... and I do my ranting on my off-site journal. Typically, I find that no-one wants to read what I write (which is why I gave up trying to be an author), and therefore limit myself to posting my opinion in topics that strike my fancy at the moment. I post when I decide I have something to say, and I learn from patterns.
I run a couple of my own small message boards, one of which I created for a school whose students were getting unnecessarily stressed out about the administration. I don't get a lot of traffic, but I often find myself wishing for more just for something to do. I'm one of these crazy people who would rather make sure a forum ran smoothly before posting "yea! pie rocks; you're weird" or whatever. I use a system that gives me a simple control bar at the bottom of the topics to move or delete as I feel necessary; making moderating topics a matter of "click, select, click, done" in maybe ten seconds... and even then I send PMs telling people why I chose to move/delete their post/topic (and I don't even have to hide my online status). This makes it rather difficult to believe that Gaia moderators can't simply select the more obviously misplaced threads and move them to the appropriate forums without interferring in their online activities (of course, the trick may be that one would have to keep on top of it). Another problem I've noticed with the mods is that they seem to be all in one time-zone. This is odd and not a good idea; I choose mods with different online habits so that there's someone on most of the time to make life easier on other mods. Going through ten pages of reports can't be fun for anyone, but multiple moderators is supposed to help that situation.
I hesitate to say much about the users behavior on account of the fact that I have always had a problem with people less mature than I am in any way... or, to put it more bluntly; I've never liked kids. Sad fact is, Gaia has a large teenage population and most evidently don't know any better. The rules should not have to be displayed in large, bold, neon flashing letters as a disclaimer between every link, but it really is beginning to seem like a good idea. Of course, I am trying to give the users at fault a benefit of a doubt thinking that their problem happens to be that they just can't find the sticky, or the text for the description is too small to read comfortably. Online etiquette and message board manners seem to have ceased development and then disappeared... unfortunately, I began on a message board while such things were prevalent.
I do believe I shall start compiling a new manual; Complete Online Etiquette... (perhaps I'll add "for Dummies" on, just to be a smart-a**). A simple-language list of guidelines to prevent flaming and encourage people to take one seriously shouldn't be a bad idea... but let's see how it goes.
The Extended Discussions forum has turned into a thoroughly disappointing experience for me, and I wish all who are staying and trying to restore the forum the best of luck. I do not rule out the possibility of returning should they succeed.
Later.
BTW; out of all the ED moderators it's Deoridhe who rocks the most. I just wanted to give her a bit of personal credit along with my gratitude.
Krysannia Community Member 
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