navithmastero
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 655
Registered: 01-03-2012
IP: Logged

Over the past couple of weeks, it has become abundantly clear to me that an individual with a lot of rank points has been downmodding every post I have made regarding AI (and possibly other posts). This morning, for example, I woke up to find that overnight someone had downmodded me by a total of -11 across a few posts. A couple of weeks ago, this individual went back to posts I made over a year ago and downmodded those. On one one particularly post I have been downmodded by over 10 points. All of these downmodding sprees occurred after the initial time for the posts to settle. I estimate that this user has downmodded me, in total, over the past couple of weeks by close to 50 points.

The point here is not to complain about imaginary internet points, but rather to say that it is incredibly disappointing to see that someone (with a lot of rank points) has some sort of personal issue with me, for seemingly no good reason. This is too small a community for this kind of very petty behaviour and if we want it to survive, we have to be welcoming. I have been a member for over 10 years and feel pretty put-off, so can only imagine how a new member may be treated.

I really hope that the person doing it can stop the cowardice (and abusing their mod-points) and tell me personally what their issue is rather than just downmodding me to oblivion, and hope that this doesn't happen to anyone else either.

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[Last edited by navithmastero at 07-11-2025 12:19 PM]

averagemoe
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 559
Registered: 03-22-2012
IP: Logged

I had a similar problem once. I still don't know who did it.

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Doom
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 3385
Registered: 07-05-2004
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When you have nothing good to say, it may be better to stay quiet. Is what I'd normally say, but since navith is making such a huge deal out of this, I'll spell it out.

I removed the upvotes on navith's posts (and would do so again, because I don't want to encourage this kind of behavior). You're welcome to support the use of AI tools, but stop being an asshole about it. Recently the tone has been getting increasingly hostile, and by now I refuse to believe that it's not intentional. When someone keeps using loaded words like "virtue signalling", "paranoia" and "obsessed", it's really difficult to have an adult conversation.

That's all. I don't have a horse in this race, I'm just annoyed at people acting like idiots. It's region and politics all over again.

navithmastero
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 655
Registered: 01-03-2012
IP: Logged

Yep, I said a particular user was virtue-signalling... which I think they were.

The other two were said in the context of more general statements surrounding the attitudes towards AI, and whether you like it or not, that is what's happening, as is evidenced in Mike's posts. You're within your rights to think my language is overdramatic, maybe even sensationalist, but the implication you're trying to make with regards to the politics thing at the end of your post is pretty disingenuous (though maybe I'm reading too far into it).

More to the point though, given that other people had upvoted those posts (and kept upvoting even after you downvoted!), I don't really think you can sit here and give me the 'when you having nothing good to say, it may be better to stay quiet'.

Mainly though, I don't really understand why you think you have the right to silently govern what people say on the forum, just because you don't like it?

Edit: I possibly misunderstood Doom's post - thanks Schik!

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[Last edited by navithmastero at 07-11-2025 07:29 PM]

Schik
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5528
Registered: 02-04-2003
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navithmastero wrote:
More to the point though, given that other people had upvoted those posts (and kept upvoting even after you downvoted!), I don't really think you can sit here and give me the 'when you having nothing good to say, it may be better to stay quiet'. I also don't really understand why you think you have the right to silently govern what people say on the forum, just because you don't like it?

By context, I'm assuming Doom was saying that to himself - saying that since he didn't have anything good to say, he should be quiet, but he's not being quiet because you specifically asked for feedback on why this was happening.

People were up- and down-voting almost every post in that thread. A lot. It was crazy to just refresh and see what was happening. My own posts, which I thought were pretty benign, were at times -3 and at times +3.

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Citrus
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1249
Registered: 01-08-2006
IP: Logged

navithmastero wrote: ]Mainly though, I don't really understand why you think you have the right to silently govern what people say on the forum, just because you don't like it?

Are mod points governance? I thought it was like Reddit karma ends up being used. Just a barometer of how the community thinks of what you are saying. In fact, unlike reddit, there isn't any sort of algorithm that takes those numbers into account when it determines what it shows people. Those most it does is determine rank, another mostly useless thing.

Emily

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[Last edited by Citrus at 07-11-2025 07:39 PM]

navithmastero
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 655
Registered: 01-03-2012
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Citrus wrote:

Are mod points governance? I thought it was like Reddit karma ends up being used. Just a barometer of how the community thinks of what you are saying. In fact, unlike reddit, there isn't any sort of algorithm that takes those numbers into account when it determines what it shows people. Those most it does is determine rank, another mostly useless thing.

Emily

I'd argue that since people can mod a post multiple times, an individual can 'overwhelm' the community sentiment (particularly since this community is so small). Since Doom says in his post that his whole reason for doing it was because he wanted to prevent behaviour that he didn't like from occurring in the future, it seems like a perfect example of this.

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[Last edited by navithmastero at 07-11-2025 07:50 PM]

Doom
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 3385
Registered: 07-05-2004
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Schik's interpretation is what was intended.

navithmastero wrote:
the implication you're trying to make with regards to the politics thing at the end of your post is pretty disingenuous (though maybe I'm reading too far into it).

I don't know how you interpreted this, but these are stereotypical examples of topics that people always get...passionate about. I remember we once had drama about someone having a Jesus signature, good times.

I also don't really understand why you think you have the right to silently govern what people say on the forum, just because you don't like it?

I don't govern anything. Merely expressed disapproval. Don't overthink it.

navithmastero
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 655
Registered: 01-03-2012
IP: Logged

Doom wrote:
I don't govern anything. Merely expressed disapproval. Don't overthink it.

Well no, you don't govern anything in the sense that you don't make the rules, but by your own admission you certainly were attempting to. You also were definitely doing more than merely expressing disapproval.

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[Last edited by navithmastero at 07-12-2025 04:56 AM]

skell
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 3880
Registered: 12-28-2004
IP: Logged

I find this thread and Time Fenix deeply sad in so many ways.

Not only did Mrimer feel he had to cancel the Kickstarter (at least for the time being), the conversation on the forum became absolutely unproductive almost immediately.

I wanted to respond in the other thread with a different perspective but I feared it would just open a can of worms. But the can of worms has opened anyway. And then it all became gloomy. And I am specifically going to call you out, navithmastero. Maybe I am unfair, maybe it's because I subconsciously remembered I had bad blood with you in the past. But if we're playing the honest game, your posts are what made me feel unwelcome. I can take snark and smartassness, I don't want to deal with being an asshole.

Let me quote you something very smart I just read:

This is too small a community for this kind of very petty behaviour and if we want it to survive, we have to be welcoming.

Emphasis mine.

To add to that, I have been a member for 21 years. I suppose seniority should elevate my perspective above others'? I also feel really put off by this entire situation. So while I have only once downvoted some of your posts down to 0 in the other thread I have now shed the anonymity my infinite mod points give me and said in public what is in my head.

I really did not want to respond in this thread because I am confident any conversation that follows will just make me angry or even more depressed. But I also kind of hope that maybe the whole thing can be salvaged if I say it's miserable enough times. I have no closing words. I just want to leave.

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navithmastero
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 655
Registered: 01-03-2012
IP: Logged

I was not even aware we had bad blood! I guess DRODers have long memories (though not long enough to remember that this was a genuine disagreement between two people passionate about the game, within which I apologised to you privately when it had become clear I'd upset you).

For what it's worth, I think the only comments where I was being an arse were two replies to Kieran, and while I don't think that my point in those replies was necessarily wrong, I think tonally was perhaps a bit far.

I'm not especially passionate about AI as I am passionate that people who use them shouldn't be victims of a 'witchhunt '- Mike's words, not mine! I genuinely don't believe that anything I said, other than mentioned above, in those threads was out of proportion to any other reply there, and given the upvotes I had on all of those posts, I'm inclined to believe that there are members of this community who agree. If you think they were, you're more than welcome to tell me why, as you were in the Time Fenix thread.

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[Last edited by navithmastero at 07-11-2025 11:27 PM]

Kalin
Level: Master Delver

Rank Points: 293
Registered: 01-25-2016
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navithmastero wrote:
I'd argue that since people can mod a post multiple times, an individual can 'overwhelm' the community sentiment (particularly since this community is so small).

Why is this a thing? If we changed it so you could only mod a post once, would that help calm things down?

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robin
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 863
Registered: 09-01-2004
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The DROD forum has (and is) allways been a good and nice forum, due to the mod system (at least partly). You can see if a member is an active one or not, just by looking at his/her points, I like this system, but it's just a guiding system.
I also have been downmodded on some post from the past, not knowing why, that's somewhat unpleasant, but it is what it is.
The problem with a forum (and text messages in general), it's just letters and words, without intonation and facial expressions.
You can read a message in a "happy" way or an "angry" way and get 2 different messages sometimes, with exactly the same words.
We can use emoji, but that doesn't allways clear things up enough.
The point is, be carefull when you read something, this is a nice forum and most messages are meant to be read in a "happy" way here.
I have seen a lot of "arrogant" people pass here on the forum in the 20 years I've been here. And one of two things allways happens. Or they leave and never come back, or they become "nice" and join this forum like everybody else in decent way. That is what I like about this place. (My apolgies for the sentiment stuff )

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Blondbeard
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1510
Registered: 03-31-2005
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robin wrote:
The point is, be carefull when you read something, this is a nice forum and most messages are meant to be read in a "happy" way here.

I also think we have our fair share of neurodivergent people here. For some of us, a third pattern of communication is common: radical truthfulness.
A) Messages may be read literally, even if they weren’t meant that way.
B) Messages may be delivered to be read literally, even though they’re unlikely to be.
C) Some descriptive messages are offered without moral judgment, even though social norms often interpret them as loaded with value.