# Public Apology



## SueM

*We had a very unfortunate event take place in chat last night. Misinformed people defending some of their friends whom they felt had not been dealt with fairly, took it upon themselves to create a "chat room riot". This lead to harsh feelings, confusion, and embarrassment to some folks in the room that had no idea what was going on. Someone gained access to information that allowed them to enter the chat as mods and they began randomly banning innocent people.*

*On behalf of all of the admins and moderators of Fish Forums, I would like to publicly apologize to all those who were victims of this tirade and would like to invite you back to chat with us very soon. The perpetrators have been dealt with and we do not anticipate a repeat of last nights fiasco. This is definitely not normal for our site and we hope that those of you who have been witness to this random act of retaliation will not let it cloud your decision to take an active part in the forums. *

*We are 6,000 members strong and hope to continue growing with people like you who are seeking a place to share your knowledge and gain some knowledge from others like yourself who love the hobby and want to form friendships with other fellow fishkeepers.*

*To those who fell victim to the "false mods", I send a personal apology and hope to see you back in the chat and the posts very soon.*

*Thank you*
*SueM, forum administrator *


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## tigerbarbgirl

Personally I don't blame them for what they did. They have been trying to get answers for the past few days and no one is giving any answers, so they tried to take it into their own hands. If things had been talked about OPENLY like they should be, the chat fiasco never would have happend.


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## Phantom_Ram

Watch it tiger, you might get banned for speaking your mind like the others did.


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## Fishfirst

go to any fish board and do what they have been doing and did and you'll get banned without question I guarentee you.


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## tigerbarbgirl

I'm not saying they shouldn't have gotten banned. I'm sayin all this could have been prevented a few days ago. If the mods had just explained why certain people had been banned it wouldn't have gotten to this point, imho.


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## Phantom_Ram

SueM said:


> We are 6,000 members strong


 Out of that 6k members how many are active? Ask yourself that question.


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## Blue Cray

990 in the last 3 months to be exact


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## Phantom_Ram

You see, FF isn't 6000 members strong, IF only 990 have been active in the last 3 months, what Shaggy should do is anyone not active in a certain amount of time their name should be removed or something, untill they become active. ONLY throwing that out there.


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## Buggy

Phantom, they did not get banned for "speaking their minds". They were banned for the uncalled for way that they went about it. Had they acted reasonably things could have been worked out.

And just because everyone doesn't visit the forums on a regular basis doesn't mean they aren't valued members and should be removed. You, yourself, were gone for a long time without activity and you came back.


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## Phantom_Ram

Starting to wish I hadn't, seems FF has fallen apart, with that said I'm gone, I'll find a new forum if I start this hobby back up. Good luck in the future everyone.


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## SueM

If you did something wrong, or got fired from your job, would you like it plastered all over the front page?


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## Guest

Well now this is my first thread and probably my last with my new name because moderators are scared of what members have to say. This site has a lot of potential, But its closed minded douce-bag mods are holding the site back, they tell people ''keep on topic'' ''keep it serious'' and close threads all the time WhatThe**************** is that you MODS on this site are strait douce-bags thinking once you get home and get on the forums that you are almighty, ****************that. It sucks cause this forum is set up nice and we have fun on this site but anymore. I feel sorry for you guys that enjoy this site cause it could be a lot better well im done now cause this thread and my registration well be deleted soon and ill have to make another one so......****************off douces. Kiss my azz SueM I'll be back.
An ex mod


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## Shaggy

Phantom_Ram said:


> Out of that 6k members how many are active? Ask yourself that question.


 
Seriously, what are you trying to accomplish with your posts here? And why are you really saying anything about what has happened here. Your new and no really nothing what has been going on in the past, so why are you saying anything now about this situation?


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## Shaggy

exmod said:


> Well now this is my first thread and probably my last with my new name because moderators are scared of what members have to say. This site has a lot of potential, But its closed minded douce-bag mods are holding the site back, they tell people ''keep on topic'' ''keep it serious'' and close threads all the time WhatThe**************** is that you MODS on this site are strait douce-bags thinking once you get home and get on the forums that you are almighty, ****************that. It sucks cause this forum is set up nice and we have fun on this site but anymore. I feel sorry for you guys that enjoy this site cause it could be a lot better well im done now cause this thread and my registration well be deleted soon and ill have to make another one so......****************off douces. Kiss my azz SueM I'll be back.
> An ex mod


 
Well hi Pete, bye Pete. I have just banned your user name exmod, and fishguy54. I have also IP banned you to, so I guess you really won't be seeing this post anyways.


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## Georgia Peach

wow, glad I missed all of that!

and Thanks Sue, I think you all do a great job of running this forum, thats why I came back!


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## Phantom_Ram

Shaggy said:


> Seriously, what are you trying to accomplish with your posts here? And why are you really saying anything about what has happened here. Your new and no really nothing what has been going on in the past, so why are you saying anything now about this situation?


 :withstup:Honestly Shaggy, you should go and look back at my first post, you will see I was a very active member up till where I left FF because of some problems that I will not drag up, I only pointed out the false statement Sue had said.


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## rmc

Good Morning Fish Forums!! I hope everyone has a Great Weekend.


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## Osiris

Welcome back RMC!


Phantom_Ram, it's plain and simple, certain people were demoted, others banned for their actions on how they treat other board members, in turn of that, they retaliated prior to their permnant ban of them and their friends they brought to turn on the Forum Board. 

We lost plenty of members and complaints from members that the decision was made that a reorganization was needed, certain members needed to be let go. 

This will all settle down soon, I have seen it happen on other boards as well, if want FF to be larger and more expert's available to give advice, I am talking as in their job as an expert on fish, this behavior cannot be tolerated.


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## BV77

*chat room*

Darn it. I missed the chat spat. Wish I'd have been there to put my two cents in.


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## Guest

Buggy said:


> Phantom, they did not get banned for "speaking their minds". . . .
> And just because everyone doesn't visit the forums on a regular basis doesn't mean they aren't valued members and should be removed.


It does boil down to speaking their minds, Rita. When they asked, even when they deserved to know, they weren't given answers. Mods asked the same questions and didn't get answers. How can you expect to run a successful forum if you can't handle people? If all you can do is run people off over and over again. I'm not talking about you, Rita, but the person who's supposed to hear the members out and handle things the right way.

By deleting, or having posts deleted, and silencing things, Sue has gotten us to where we are today.

You, yourself, Rita recommended that inactive members be "purged". And don't deny it, or you'll be on the same level as Sue is and has been for a long time


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## COM

Perhaps I'm naive, but I don't see how there can be this much drama on a fish website.

Embrace your dorky fish obsession or go to some other website. How much more complicated can you really make this?


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## Guest

> Perhaps I'm naive, but I don't see how there can be this much drama on a fish website.


Normally I'd agree, but this isn't really about fish any more. The people who were banned put a lot of time and effort into the site; consequently they're very angry about the way they feel they were treated.


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## wm_crash

Heck yeah I will be back as soon as my IP ban goes away. Not to add more to the drama, but overall, I think there is considerable effort pouring into the chat in the shape of speculatory statements disguised as facts with sole reason to cause trouble and revolt.

Has anyone considered using a different chat package? It seems that this chat is rather vulnerable to access codes sharing . . . said the geek.

cheers,
wm_crash, the friendly hooligan



SueM said:


> *On behalf of all of the admins and moderators of Fish Forums, I would like to publicly apologize to all those who were victims of this tirade and would like to invite you back to chat with us very soon. The perpetrators have been dealt with and we do not anticipate a repeat of last nights fiasco. This is definitely not normal for our site and we hope that those of you who have been witness to this random act of retaliation will not let it cloud your decision to take an active part in the forums.
> 
> Someone gained access to information that allowed them to enter the chat as mods and they began randomly banning innocent people.*


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## Shaggy

wm_crash said:


> Heck yeah I will be back as soon as my IP ban goes away. Not to add more to the drama, but overall, I think there is considerable effort pouring into the chat in the shape of speculatory statements disguised as facts with sole reason to cause trouble and revolt.
> 
> Has anyone considered using a different chat package? It seems that this chat is rather vulnerable to access codes sharing . . . said the geek.
> 
> cheers,
> wm_crash, the friendly hooligan


 
Its not the chat. Getting it fixed.


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## hsd

I was in the chat last night and it was full of behaviour the type I'd see from a 4 year old having a fit. Some came in only to argue pointlessly and cause trouble. One of these members mesapod took it upon himself to make himself a moderator in the chat room (the pw for it gotten from another banned member) and banned a few people, myself included from the chat.

By the way my ip still banned from chat.


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## Buggy

In response to Aqua (and I'm sure you will be back under a different name to see this), I do not deny saying that inactive users should be purged. But if you will remember correctly and not take what I said out of context, you will see that I was referring to people who made an account and haven't returned in over 2 yrs, spammers that made accounts only to leave their spam messege and bots that make accounts and WERE NEVER EVEN HERE. These are dead accounts that only take up space and are not any use to the forums. Those that occassionally come back to read and/or post should not be purged since they obviously have an interest in the site. 
Blue said there were 990 active members IN THE LAST THREE MONTHS. Three months is not nearly long enough to determine an accurate active member count. How many have been active in the last 9-12 months? That would be a more realistic timeline.


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## Obsidian

This is all I have to say about this topic:

By spamming the site, by spamming chat etc all that is being accomplished is that you are proving exactly why you should have been banned, and why it is appropriate that this happened to you. 

If you are acting like a little spoiled child, then you are not responsible enough to mod a site, and not grown up enough to be on the board. This would get you banned from any site. 

Thanks for proving the point. It clears things up considerably and I would hope that folks can see this. No matter what "side" you are on it is clearly recognizable that this behavior is inappropriate.


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## wm_crash

I think everyone got carried way away. And that includes mesapod banning me for asking a legitimate question (and apparently he is a legit chat mod, so can't fault him for modding up). I have the conviction that I was less drunk and better mannered than at least half the people in the chatroom at that point.

I don't know why lately people suddenly get all fussy when I ask if they can back up their claims. I can take both "yes" and "no" for an answer.

Oh well, when's my ban over?

Cheers,
wm_crash, the friendly hooligan


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## TheOldSalt

HER tirade?
HER tirade?
HAHAHAHAHAhAhAHAHaHAhahAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!

Oh.. thanks for that; I needed a good laugh.

Toodles.


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## Shaggy

wm_crash said:


> I think everyone got carried way away. And that includes mesapod banning me for asking a legitimate question (and apparently he is a legit chat mod, so can't fault him for modding up). I have the conviction that I was less drunk and better mannered than at least half the people in the chatroom at that point.
> 
> I don't know why lately people suddenly get all fussy when I ask if they can back up their claims. I can take both "yes" and "no" for an answer.
> 
> Oh well, when's my ban over?
> 
> Cheers,
> wm_crash, the friendly hooligan


Mesapod was not a chat mod. He was a childish user that decided to take the password that was handed out for the chat mod and start banning people.


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## MaelStrom

Did anyone save a script to this? I'm pretty curious as to what happened... sounds like an episode of Jerry Springer to me.


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## TheOldSalt

Yep, it was pretty Springeresque. Don't worry, Leah posted it 29 times this morning, across every forum category, and I'm sure she'll do it again very soon. If not, well, we may post it up ourselves so everyone can see just how much those who got banned really truly deserved what they got and finally get over it, already.


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## Buggy

I think that might be a good idea TOS.


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## emc7

This happens to every group sooner or later. 2 people have a disagreement or even just a misunderstanding and everyone starts taking sides and attacking everyone else. Deleting all mention of whatever happened, set off some more people who didn't want to be treated like children and wanted to be "in on" what was going on. The chat "riot" was actually pretty mild. A code was posted that anyone act like a mod and ban people so they did. The rest of us just got bored and logged off. Other sites with a schism like this have been hacked repeatedly. I've also seen groups break into two or disintegrate completely. 

My advice to all is don't play the games. It isn't an election or a war. Its impossible to wrest ultimate control of a site from the owner. If you have any ideas for the site's future, post them. Let the past go. We're not stockholders, we don't pay anything, we don't get anything. We don't have a vote. Choose to take what is offered or go somewhere else.


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## Aquaman_95

I'm glad everything is settled!


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## jones57742

COM said:


> Embrace your dorky fish obsession or go to some other website. How much more complicated can you really make this?


COM:

How much education did you say that you had in Physics?

When in doubt in Physics you always go back to the basics as the remainder of nature is typically derivable therefrom.

Well folks COM's statement really gets back to the basics.

TR

BTW: The Forum is owned by Shag. He can pull the plug anytime he feels like it. He is nice enough to allow us to enjoy the Forum with him.


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## TheOldSalt

QUOTE from Leah: _TOS, I didn't post anything 29 times. Don't blame me for things I didn't do. I posted what you said to me about..."_

Actually, I believe you. It has come to my attention since that the culprit is very likely a regular in Purgatory, and I think I know who. Confirmation of this will be easy enough.

As for the other thing, what you sent was a highly edited and manufactured version. Nice try, really, but we've already caught you over-using the edit button, so your feeble attempt to stir up trouble has failed. You see, toots, I realized that you were up to something when you started sucking up to me so much for no apparent reason. ( _you were already gone, so what did you hope to gain, I began to wonder _) You had me going there for a good bit, I'll give you that, but when I fullpaged the box to see it better, I was able to see the pattern of your manipulation that I had previously missed going line-by-line. Honeychile, I spoon-fed you that stuff specifically because I knew it would be tempting while at the same time long-past relevant, and you ate it up with gusto.
The funny part is that if you had actually just sat back, behaved yourself, and done what you said you would, you would never have been banned, you'd be in a position to be able to help lobby for your friends' returns, and you wouldn't now be the laughingstock of Fishforums.

I know you're upset, but you and the others fully deserved what happened to you and you know it. Do yourself a big favor and go get a new place to play. You don't want to get caught up in what's about to happen, believe me. You are young and still have a chance at a decent life, unlike a certain moron who just threw away his yesterday. If you are in communication with him outside of Fishforums, then your life, I must warn you, is about to get MUCH more complicated. HIS is about to be ruined. Those feds have NO sense of humor, I assure you, and they're very good at cyber-forensics. There will be no escape.


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## Ghost Knife

Whoa, I am out for a couple weeks and look at everything I missed.:lol:


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## Ice

And I miss it all too !


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## frogman5

woah look wat i missed


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## justintrask

lets just drop it and move on. problem solved  GET ME CHAT BACK!


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## SBDTHUR

I'm going to have to agree. Shaggy I don't feel your fit to even run this site. I offered my help, for free, and you mocked me? I've turned an entire website that went from 3 posts a day to 300 within a month, new forum skin, and very little drama like this at all? You closed my topic when I asked what happened to Ichthius, what the hell did I do wrong. You didn't even point me in the right direction of where to find out. You just said LOOK for it. When you guys get professional, give me a call. 320 posts strong and I regret every single one.

Oh yea, I mean I don't have 2 sites of my own with 3,000+ unique views a piece and making money off of both. I obviously have no idea what I'm doing and you should definitely mock me.


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## Buggy

This is all old news now so I'm closing this thread before things flare up again.


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## Shaggy

SBDTHUR said:


> I'm going to have to agree. Shaggy I don't feel your fit to even run this site. I offered my help, for free, and you mocked me? I've turned an entire website that went from 3 posts a day to 300 within a month, new forum skin, and very little drama like this at all? You closed my topic when I asked what happened to Ichthius, what the hell did I do wrong. You didn't even point me in the right direction of where to find out. You just said LOOK for it. When you guys get professional, give me a call. 320 posts strong and I regret every single one.
> 
> Oh yea, I mean I don't have 2 sites of my own with 3,000+ unique views a piece and making money off of both. I obviously have no idea what I'm doing and you should definitely mock me.


 
You took one site and turned it around. Good for you. :fun: I should have you as my teacher.  

I really don't know who you are or when I turned you down. I never even seen you before. I don't even think I ever talked to you. Good luck with your site(what of it is) and I will be happy to delete all of your posts and your account if you want me to, seeing you regret posting here at FF.

Also, why do you think 3000 uv a day is a great accomplishment? This site gets alot more then that and I have about 10 other forums that do 5 times that. Do I show off by saying I have a total of 40,000 to 50,000 uniques a day on all my sites? Nope. I'm not mocking you, but when you say I don't know how to run a site like this, then why do I have at least 8 - 10 more succesful forums out there? Your comment doesn't make any sense to me...  

If you want to say something to me about this...please pm me


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