Yes there is. It's called picking the most obvious target and firing a warning shot across its bow.
The target either realises, "hey I'm being fired at here. I should go in another direction if I don't want to be hit" or the target continues and enters combat - where it fights, at which point it either wins or loses on a more permanent basis.
Only truly obtuse morons would struggle to grasp the implications. Implications that have already, quite rightfully, been pointed out by everyone against this.
The fact we're sticking to just this one, tiny little word, is our way of acknowledging this. And saying, "we don't really want to go down this path. In fact, we'd like to avoid it. But unfortunately, some people here are forcing our hand".
It's not going to be a good idea to force our hand.
This is us saying: "Hey guys, it's been fun, but tone it the fuck down a notch would you?" In the exact same way that you might see a video of a certain type of individual assaulting someone on the street and think, "those types of people need to be given a bit of authority, so that they learn that's not how to behave".
We're doing the exact same thing, only to certain people here.
You just happen to disagree. Which is fine. But at the end of the day, this is our website, not yours.
I recognize that, at some point, it becomes difficult to treat everyone on the board as adults when we all, without exception, act like children sometimes (some more often then others). The tenor of your posts lately make me think you're getting deathly tired of trying to hold everything together, and you feel alone in your work. I sympathize. Maybe I'm misreading you, feel free to correct me.
I think one thing that would help members of good faith a lot would be telling us what you're trying to do at this point. I know it would help me at least. Would you tell us what your desired end state looks like given the environment you find yourself in? What's your goal regarding the Codex right now?
Is it preservation at all costs, slowly jettisoning your admin/moderating principles to keep the site alive? I don't mean that at all pejoratively. Think the captain of a ship under boarding action, slowly giving up bulkheads to keep it in the fight, hoping for a miracle or with some plan in mind. Perhaps you're thinking of shuttering the site or selling it? Trying to build money/support and put up a credible resistance to the pressure you're facing? I don't mean this as a multiple choice btw, just using examples. I think I speak for all of us when I say we want to know what you want from this mess.
I can tell you, unequivocally, that what you're doing now is not going to help no matter what. In the past (what little past I have with this site) you've always come across as capricious and cheerfully malicious, in the same way a well-loved cat will sometimes give you a walloping swipe that draws blood. I've always found it endearing and comfortable. More importantly you also come across as an unbudging, mule-headed cunt on the issue of Free Speech, which I have admired deeply. But right now you're coming across as scared shitless and unsure what to do. All of this stuff, the petty (in the sense of small, and temporary, not in the sense of nasty or malicious) bans, the REEra ban explanations, don't feel like the fun of playing with live grenades and laughing at the people who get blown up anymore. It feels like a death spiral.
I'm not sure I'm explaining myself well here. I guess what it comes down to is, the tone of the site - YOUR tone - has changed in a way that's making a lot of us uneasy. Remember when you yanked the reins away from VD over his bans and basically told him to fuck right off with that shit, people get to talk the way they want? It feels like that "you" is going away.
I want to address this because you've raised it a few times.
Name a single member of the Codex moderation team who is a US citizen. User's that come to mind: Saint_Proverbius. Has anyone seen him lately? He was presumed dead for years. VaultDweller (Canadian but close enough). Take a look into our history to see what VD wanted to do to the userbase. Crispy. You want me to give the Codex to Crispy? Calis. Also presumed dead. Has also actively said he didn't want to run the forum side of things.
I've been here for 20 years. In that time, which is an eternity on the internet, how many other administrators have you seen who you'd like to take over from me? Name one. Infinitron?
In that 20 years, how many coders and server technicians have you seen willing to step up and actually do something, physical things, that ensure this website remains online and functioning?
You say there's some "easy" decision here but I've been looking for 20 years.
If you want help, I volunteer. I said it in the other thread, and I meant it. I'll get in harness. If the Codex needs money I'll give it, within my limited abilities. I have approximately zero coding experience to deal with back-end programming and database management, but if you'll be patient, I'm willing to put in the time to learn. In the meantime I'm fine doing scut-work (think of tasks you'd ideally want to automate but just never have the time to do it) and anything else on the site that requires time and effort but not necessarily comp sci expertise, such as news-posting, while I start teaching myself.
You know, I was thinking "Hey finally he's giving serious answers" but I guess it's all a big joke to you... Until it suddenly isn't.
I will readily admit that I have not been courteous towards you in the past but in this case I have tried my utmost to be serious, because its a serious issue.
With you however, as Fanta said, it's all fun and games one second and then woe is me the next.
I didn't take it that way. There's always snark where DU is concerned, but it sounded like he was genuinely telling you how you could help out.
