OK, let's try a different angle here. I'm an old grumpy man but I mostly mean well.
Please ignore some of my writing style that you feel is too direct - I've seen my fair share of shit in life so generally don't feel the urge to be liked anymore. I don't have a personal grudge against you, nor do I feel anything in my posts suggests so.
I'm not here to argue - but I also feel that I'm due some explanations when asking legitimate questions.
What I do feel is that, when such changes are being made, forum experience and reputation from established users should be respected - and their voices heard when they actually spend their free time to offer opinions.
So far you haven't responded to any of the questions from buwaytress and myself and briefly touched on one aspect of Trofo's post which just showed that you're out of your depth when analyzing gambling boards.
We are highly trusted members (top 50 recognized BTT members according to BPIP) that spend all of our time on the gambling boards. If it's not us you plan to engage with, then we can skip all talk about 'improvements' and I'll simply call it a power flex.
We had a fair share of these in the past, we'll have more in the future. If that's the case so be it, but I've heard good things about you from people whose opinions I value, and I hope you will start approaching this job in a more openminded manner.
Most of these people privately told me they don't agree with what's currently happening. Not sure why everybody's so afraid to speak up on a fucking forum though - but that's another topic and another reason why BTT is as disappointing as it is.
You should know that we're trying to improve gambling boards for years. We work on bringing sponsors, creating competitions that bring value, build camaraderie and try to create a 'bubble' in all the bullshit that's been hitting these boards for years.
Now you came, semi-blind, hitting shit left and right. Ignoring our arguments shows a lack of respect to what we're building so please let me ask you once again to change your approach.
I don't know what a "paid pool" is but I'm assuming its a group that pays to participate in a season-long contest. 90% of posters in these threads seem to be better appreciated, although I could be wrong if you expressed your appreciation silently up until today.
See, this here is a major issue and I think you need to familiarize yourself with the gambling boards before continuing with your purge.
It's like giving me a task to connect electricity in a building and I'm colorblind. I can be the best guy in the world but if I don't differentiate red wire from the black one, I'm gonna burn down the building.
Paid pools are basically what fuels the closed circular economy. There are 20 or so paid pools, with a total of 100k$+ in sponsorship money and additional entry fees collected from the community on a yearly basis.
Bookies sponsor them because we bet. Campaign managers rate these posters more because they bring value to the competitions by paying the fee and to the bookie by spending money there. They pay fees and bet by spending signature money.
That is value - so some people from the gambling boards that you think are spammers are quite active in the actual thing that matters there - genuine betting posting and activity.
I ran some of their names through your tools and I expect many of them will be on the chopping list soon - because they write in 'megathreads' and because they don't receive merits.
This will start hurting their income, which will reduce the number of paid pool participants, which will harm the economy that has been growing there recently.
Let me just tell you that I personally read
every post in 15+ megathreads that are reserved for paid participants and have never even opened any of the new threads in which you find value.
New threads are a part of the problem - and if you think a post about the upcoming Arsenal - Coventry game has more value inside the 'Arsenal - Coventry discussion' thread than in PL megathread, then it's an opinion I want challenged.
It's a difficult task you've been given. It shouldn't come with a 'I know it all' mindset - reducing true mindless spam is in everybody's interest. Harming the economy should not be, and that's the path you're starting to lean towards.
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Also, my RL job forces me to say something else. There should be some defined rules regarding the bans. You have your share of received merits and a good forum rep but that doesn't mean that we should take this as face value that you actually have the skills needed for the job.
We should start with a premise that you need to prove yourself in it and not that you'll do brilliantly because you're a good forum member or generally recognize spam well.
So far from a 'project manager' perspective, this has been poorly handled - and communicated even worse. I've worked in companies that would eat you alive for the lack of transparency and clear rules - and rightfully so.
We currently have the arallmuus case under special treatment because a few of us took his case seriously enough to take a look.
From what I've gathered so far - you have the power to ban and unban. This means that some form of checks and balances is expected down the road, no?
If you ban and then there's a committee to unban, how is the committee triggered? Who chooses committee members?
There are so many things nobody understands. The process needs to be clear and intuitive. What you should be aiming for is to get to a point where people trust you to do the job - and that means being willing to recognize and correct your own mistakes - rather than reaching for a committee the moment your decision gets challenged.
Take the lead, correct what wasn't right and let's move forward. If it takes 10 respected members pointing at the same problem before a committee is needed to reconsider your decision, then the process isn't working.
Your status alone should not give you carte blanche. I'd advise you to acknowledge some of the early hiccups and show us you've got what it takes through clear and transparent rules, actual constructive discussion with people who understand these boards and a mindset that tries to help the economy instead of hindering it.