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Oh yeah that audio drama too.
Good times.
I didn't want to make this public and felt it best to simply take you aside. As a fellow moderator, both past and present (well over 10+ years of experience in other forums), I have noticed a few things recently that may have already been pointed out to you. Thus, this may seem like I'm beating a dead horse, here.
I've noticed more than once that you've been a bit eager to exercise your newfound powers, and this is something I tend to notice with new moderators who haven't had a lot of experience in moderating a forum. The thing that moderators need to realize, though, is that they are still users. Thus, they need to continue to act like users. The only thing that makes a moderator different are the amount of options at their disposal.
That said, when a new moderator becomes a bit too eager to exercise their authority, it comes off as overbearing. That moderator has become the forum cop. In most communities, forum cops are frowned upon. They have ceased being users and have become machines. They had allowed their power to go to their head and thus had forgotten their roots.
Moderation is secondary to your position. You may not be aware of this, and when I had first started out, I wasn't aware of it, either. I thought I was doing the right thing. But, when one jumps at the chance to scold the forum for the most minor of offenses, it's overbearing. Mayla has every right to be upset, as she had shown in her comment regarding this latest situation.
The thing about forums is discussions will veer off-topic. It's the norm. It's expected. Thus, when it happens, there is no need to suddenly pounce on it. It's simply a discussion that went off-topic, no rules were broken. A better way to handle this in the future would be to attempt to steer the discussion back on-topic, rather than scold the users. Should that method fail, then a gentle warning would be warranted, plus the option of taking the discussion to a new topic. Should that fail, then an administrative command would suffice. Exhaust your other options first, then pull out the mod voice. You will get a better reaction this way.
Moderating is a learning curve, and it takes a while to settle into a pattern. Unfortunately, the bad habits tend to be settled into first. Thus, asking other staff members for advice and their opinions of your methods would be a good route. Even ask the users. You're still a user, regardless of your additional options. Keep the lines of communication open to your fellow users. They will help steer you in the right direction.
Japanese DVD, Huh. I believe that has the English Dub on there even, could be wrong though.
Yay.
The original movie is [tornado fang]ing awesome.
DAT ORGAN MUSIC FOR MEWTWO.
