Semi annual volnation thread

justingroves · Aug 31, 2015

IP said: ↑

That 2012 offense was so good on paper in July.
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It was good on the field in October.

There were times Tennessee's defense shouldn't have even taken the field

Joseph Brant · Sep 16, 2015

Calling the football coach Botch is now grounds for a violation. Shrug.

hatvol96 · Sep 16, 2015

justingroves said: ↑

It was good on the field in October.

There were times Tennessee's defense shouldn't have even taken the field
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The whole go for it on every fourth down movement should have used that group as their poster children.

CardinalVol · Sep 16, 2015

Joseph Brant said: ↑

Calling the football coach Botch is now grounds for a violation. Shrug.
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That's both sad and funny.

justingroves · Sep 16, 2015

hatvol96 said: ↑

The whole go for it on every fourth down movement should have used that group as their poster children.
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I would have been okay with that

JayVols · Sep 16, 2015

Joseph Brant said: ↑

Calling the football coach Botch is now grounds for a violation. Shrug.
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Hahaha

kptvol · Sep 16, 2015

bigpapavol said: ↑

They does
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Glorious

warhammer · Sep 18, 2015

Joseph Brant said: ↑

Calling the football coach Botch is now grounds for a violation. Shrug.
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I imagine calling him a mf'er would be similar?

Volgrad98 · Nov 3, 2015

Tenacious D said: ↑

I'm confused re: off brand soda / TP / Pret / starting threads / PJ's penchant for self-pleasure.

However, here is the answer to your "What happened / Why are things this way?" questions:

1. There was an invite-only site that pre-dates both this site and any involvement that I personally had (I was the 20th member, IIRC) and which held about 25-30 members. Everyone who is a Mod / Admin here, was a member there. We posted on both sites, but primarily on VN. This other site was a respite, of sorts, and a way to have both meaningful and humorous dialogue with like-minded, albeit idealogically diverse (it counted both Card and IP as members, as an example) individuals.

2. At the risk of speaking for others (I welcome any corrections), I would say that we enjoyed our interaction at VN, and had good / amicable relationships with most members of its leadership team, throughout. Merely as a means of an example, I enjoyed numerous private conversations with Freak, both about matters related to VN, and beyond. We did not go fishing on the weekends, in fact far from it, but we came to know one another (i.e. he knows who I am offline, and vice versa) and I grew to personally like him. Much of the same could be said for members of the other members-only site, and other Mods / Admins at VN - Vader, SpringBok, etc. To be sure, we would occasionally push the envelope of their site rules, but it was neither completely unwarranted (we didn't run around looking to start shit) nor could it be construed as anything approaching egregious or abusive. When those instances did occur, it was usually resolved with no more effort than it took for someone to send us a quick PM of inquiry, or a request to stop.

3. While we disagreed with many of their site rules, if only in principal, we did adhere to them (however reluctantly), sans the occasional and aforementioned episodes. We similarly understood that there were several mods over there, each with their own perspectives and personalities - naturally, we liked some more than others. And we also appreciated the largely thankless and impossible task which they were required to perform, essentially, to ensure for a fair, free and civil exchange of ideas amongst its members. Finally, we respected the fact that it was their site, and they had every right to operate and monitor it as they had seen best fit to do. Simply, the discord which emerged was not about rules, our personal dis/like of the mods, or for a lack of understanding or appreciation for what they were trying to accomplish.

4. Imperceptibly, over the course of some time and for reasons still unknown, a series of small shifts occurred, and which greatly affected our enjoyment of the site. Namely, it seemed as if the moderation was not only imbalanced for/against selected posters, but which stemmed from the moderator's personal preference or ideological disagreement, instead of the facts or matter at hand, alone. This sort of personal pettiness not only began to be applied in disparate amounts or degrees, but far worse, to only a select group of members, and seemingly without oversight and with little to no recourse being made available. Simply, and crassly, we didn't like some mods, and they didn't like us, ostensibly, because we largely refused any notion that something was right / true / correct / absolute, the moment it sprang from their keyboard. Posts and threads were routinely deleted, despite having never approached the violation of any site rule, temporary bans were given without notice and in some cases, without cause or reason.

5. We sought explanations to most incidents, and complained when such was woefully insufficient or even given at all, publicly, privately and repeatedly - to Freak and the mods, those whom we knew to be fair-minded, and others suspected of being involved. Direct examples were often provided, including instances where the same (or, "suspected" I should say, as it was always kept secret as to which mod it might have been) mod who had admonished us in a thread or during a certain time period was committing the same "offense" to which we were accused. Occasionally, mods would seem to go out of their way to instigate a confrontation with certain members, only to punish them for responding in kind. The net result was that the multiplication of idiocy was not allowed, but tolerated, and embraced. Its effect became so pervasive as to greatly deter our enjoyment and desired participation of the site.

6. Ultimately, it was simply acknowledged that VN was not "ours", but "theirs" - and that they had every right to manage it as best they saw fit, despite whatever number of protests we may raise, or the legitimacy of each. Once that was decided, the question of seeking an alternative was settled. We considered simply adding more people to the members-only site, but decided against it, for a number of reasons (first, there was a lot of personal information that was never envisioned to be made available to a wider audience, and secondly, it didn't offer the robust platform that a lot of members would require). So, we decided to start our own, and secondary, site. I just happened to be the person who signed up for the stuff to get started, so when I say that this site is "ours" and not "mine", that isn't simply alluding to some theoretical idea of equality, but is a statement of fact, based on a true and actual description of reality. So, we got this site up and running and began preparations to invite people in.

7. We never thought that we would rival or compete with VN, nor even wanted to do so, as we saw our objectives as being completely dissimilar - they want as many people as possible, and the clicks and site visits it brings, seemingly, above all else. We certainly enjoy traffic / clicks as they do (this site doesn't come close to paying for itself, and is privately funded), just not at any cost, however in/directly. We place the greatest value on an open and honest exchange of ideas and opinions, whereas both their site rules and their moderation style seem to suggest that they only welcome an overwhelmingly positive member, however delusional or misinformed such a position may be. We seek for our mods / admins to be as to be as honest and transparent as we had wished that they had been, and draw no distinction between ourselves and other members of the site than we are (literally) forced to assume. We are quite similar, insofar as we each operate our respective sites exactly as we wish, but those are different ideologies, altogether.

8. Some members of our new site began to invite people here via VN PM's, completely unbeknownst to either Freak or his mods. They became greatly upset by this, angered even, and understandably so. This may have played a part in their decision to exclude all PM's from their site, but this has never been confirmed (that it happened in the immediate aftermath....think hours, not days...may be just a coincidence). Soon thereafter, several members of the new site were immediately banned from VN, despite having neither committed any offense nor being given any reason that such occurred (e.g. myself, Droski, IP, Hat, etc.). Tensions escalated further when some of their mods came over here in an attempt to "out" myself and other members, by displaying personal information about several of us. Some here reciprocated by displaying personal information about several of them (here, on this site) - all of which was quickly deleted (any personal information, about anyone, that is - theirs included). Since the split, I have personally reached out to Freak on several occasions, offering apologies for our earliest indiscretions (e.g. using their PM system, responding to their disclosure of personal information by doing the same), and stating my desire that we at least agree to amicably coexist, even offering him a log-in to the site to participate as he saw fit. I've never heard from him, and don't expect that I ever will, which is bothersome to me.

9. Since the split, their mods have made several forays over here, seeking true participation, or under the guise of somehow trying to undermine or deter the growth or notoriety of the site, through any number of attempted means. In fact, you recently echoed what so many others had previously told us OE, essentially, that their mods were coming here to contact people in hopes of luring them back over there (some joined here, asked to have their account deleted, and by pure coincidence, left to become mods over there, shortly thereafter). Which brings up another interesting difference between our sites....we claim no ownership to either our members, the interwebz, or any part of it. We don't attempt to plead to anyone's e-loyalty to our site, and as a result, have people who post here, on VN and lots of other places - and which we could honestly give two shits less about, believing that it's none of our damned business what someone does outside of this site. Novel, huh?

They are obviously a wildly successful and well-run site which no less than 90%+ of Tennessee fans both want and need. We understand that this isn't our demographic, nor do we want it to be, but can appreciate that its theirs and has been successful. I personally hold no ill-will toward anyone, and wish both Freak and VN nothing but the absolute and sincere best in everything.

I can guess as to whether they feel the same toward us, or not, but that's all it would be - a guess. You can probably draw your own conclusions....or better yet, you can just PM one of them over there and ask them, directly.

But that's the long and short of what happened, and where things now stand, insofar as I am aware.
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Needed a refresher so bump.

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Semi annual volnation thread

justingroves supermod

Joseph Brant Airbrush Aficionado

hatvol96 Well-Known Member

CardinalVol Uncultured, non-diverse mod

justingroves supermod

JayVols Walleye Catchin' Moderator

kptvol Super Moderator

warhammer Chieftain

Volgrad98 Contributor

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Semi annual volnation thread

justingroves supermod

Joseph Brant Airbrush Aficionado

hatvol96 Well-Known Member

CardinalVol Uncultured, non-diverse mod

justingroves supermod

JayVols Walleye Catchin' Moderator

kptvol Super Moderator

warhammer Chieftain

Volgrad98 Contributor

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