Am going to chip in my two cents here, though I should point out that I've been away from CW for much of the past 3-4 weeks and so I've missed a lot of the bannings etc that occurred, and I've looked over some of it but there is plenty I haven't yet seen.
Firstly, in terms of people criticising GF for his modding; yes, I can see why people might feel this way. However, like PEWS said, the basic modding decisions are normally done as the individual mod sees fit and without consultation. Any other bigger issues are discussed in the mod forum (incidentally this also happens to a number of reported posts; reporting a post actually creates a new thread in the mod forum where it can be discussed). So while there might only be 3 or 4 mods who are generally visible in doing stuff, the others are normally involved in some other way. But I think this has a lot to do with why GF has come off looking a bit bad to some; more often than not he was the first to see an offending post and was forced to act quickly, which can lead to oversights. FWIW, given that GF was asked to be a mod after the CC suggestions thread, rather than him volunteering, I think he does deserve a bit more credit than he's received here for all the work that he did.
Moving on, I echo what cpr said earlier about Staff Members, and just senior posters in general tbh. It's really disappointing to see a senior member abusing other posters or being sucked in so easily to a flame war in response to what they see as a troll. Yes, the trolling shouldn't be happening in the first place, but the definition of trolling is pretty subjective, and mods can't be everywhere all at once. We all do it every now and then, and even though it's a lot easier (and more fun) to get riled up and call someone a **** instead of reporting the post and walking away, if you've been here long enough, you probs should have a basic idea of what is and isn't appropriate.
Further, even if someone else has thrown the first insult, it doesn't mean it's a free for all. I was really annoyed reading the Ban Announcements thread in SD where a whole lot of posters were ganging up on Sir Alex. We obviously don't enjoy closing threads or warning senior posters, but sometimes there's not much choice. Carrying on from that, it does make it a lot harder when people blatantly question and ignore mods' decisions. We definitely don't always get it right and suggestions/complaints are welcome, but if there's something that you disagree with, it's a lot better if it's brought up offsite or via a reported post rather than out in the open, as it sets up a precedent for other posters and new members to do the same. Chances are most posters aren't going to be too happy if they've been warned, but it's just a bit frustrating when members constantly question the call rather than copping it on the chin and moving along.
Please bear in mind I'm not trying to make this a 'mods vs posters' kind of thing, but these are just some trends that I've noticed recently. There's no doubt that the mod team has played a significant role in CW's current state (which I really wouldn't say is all that bad), but pointing the finger solely at one group is a bit unfair IMO.
) and you happened to be in the firing line at the time
My post count is 12 short of his figure though.
