Ok, first of all I want to say that I'm friendly with some people on this site, so don't take this the wrong way. It's not meant as an attack.

Awhile back, yamingirl asked me to put a link to this site in Elliott's section on IdolForums. I gladly did so. Recently on another board, Survivor Sucks, I read about the massive bannings going on here. At the time, I didn't even know they were talking about this board. They said "E-Train Station" and I didn't realize it was the same as the E-Train site. They said to go to the Funky Forums for more information. So being the nosy bitch that I am, I googled Funky Forums & Yaminions.com, which is the forums that sparked the massive bannings.

Crowe, I guess you're the main person in charge, and I have to say it's absolutely inexcusable to have a mod who bans people just for belonging to another board. Say what you want, but it's very clear that some people were banned for exactly that (because some of them hadn't posted here in weeks). If you want to gain any respectability back, you need to have that mod come forward and say they made a bad mistake and apologize, or relieve that mod of their duties. I cannot tell you what bad messageboard form that is.

Secondly, the main thing that I absolutely cannot believe, is that grown women were having to apologize because WW didn't feel comfortable with their fantasy talk. When I read posts from fans saying things like "I'm so sorry. I'll buy his cd, but I'm not gonna post again because I feel so embarrassed." They should not be apologizing. You should not be declaring things off-topic because of WW or any other person. Fans needs and desires should be taken into account when it comes to messageboards. I deleted this link from IdolForums when I read those posts. I did not want to lead any more people to this site just to have them end up feeling bad for being fans. That's unacceptable.

For the record, I don't think anything other than malicious lies should be off-topic on a messageboard. I do not believe in stifling thoughts or opinions. I can tell you, I've read many messageboards and the ones that are the most enjoyable have the least amount of moderating. Also, those communities seem to have the least amount of friction. I'm telling you, the best way for this community to last and be an enjoyable community, is by cutting back on the moderating. Let things take their flow naturally. The only time mods should ever step in are in extreme cases (trolling, mainly).

This place is earning a very bad rep, on many boards. It can be salvaged if you take my advice. But I guarantee you if you keep going at this pace, you're gonna alienate every last interesting poster. It makes me sad that a lot of people who have never been to any other messageboards (other than the official AI ones) are here, thinking that this is the way a messageboard should be run. That they deserve to be stifled and silenced.

Please take what I'm saying to heart, and know that I'm just trying to better your board and your reputation. Normally I would've gone to a board like this. The things that are happening though are just a huge turn off for me, and I know I'm not the only one.

hey everyone. first off, i wanna say thank you to famousgrl for her comments and suggestions she has detailed up top. they are very welcome comments and we assure everyone that we are aware of these events happening and are currently trying to address them.

we hope that everyone understands though that given how fast this board moves, and given that all your mods are simply donating time to this board (some are even hampered by differing time zones), sometimes, we fail to act upon things as swiftly as we would desire.

i understand that some of you have had tiffs with some mods and some have questioned the decisions they have made either individually and/or collectively. but these are all natural and i believe should be taken in the proper perspective -- in the grand scheme of things, i believe them to be the exceptions rather than the rule.

please also understand that your mods are human beings as well and not just digital signatures. we do have feelings and sometimes, they get the better of us, much like everyone. we do make mistakes. individually, our perceptions of things will be biased by our personal histories and backgrounds, hence the reason why we always try to ensure that we stick to objective procedures to curb subjectivity as much as possible. we also try and make sure that we make decisions collectively in so far as possible, again to ensure as much objectivity as can be mustered;i ask that you understand that we are not perfect, nor is any system, thus it is subject to certain vulnerabilities sometimes.

i have taken the liberty of pulling out the other posts on this thread as i believe that it has gone completely out of hand and has served to undermine famousgrl's original intention in her original posts -- that of airing out a valid concern which we will always welcome and encourage. i hope that this decision is understood. it is my hope as well that this steers the discussion back to what it should be -- that of a free exchange of ideas on how we can make this board better for everyone. thank you very much.

Ok, here's a suggestion. You can start by NOT deleting or modifying legitimate things members have to say. That was one of the main points in my original post, and yet here we are again, doing the same old thing. You are never gonna have peace or be respected if you keep doing things like this. People wrote some really intelligent respectful posts, and it's an absolute shame that you guys took it upon yourself to just delete them. Don't you see that this is not helping anything?

self edited: :noway:

famousgrl, i understand completely what you're saying and would totally agree that most, if not all of the replies on that thread has been filled with insight on this whole situation (and trust me, they may not be here anymore but they have been taken into consideration). but i believe that they have been colored with other issues that only serve to cause concern upon members who are not privy to them, nor even care to know what they are. i have simply tried to steer this discussion back to it's original track. i hope that is understood.

we do have feelings and sometimes, they get the better of us, much like everyone. we do make mistakes. individually, our perceptions of things will be biased by our personal histories and backgrounds, hence the reason why we always try to ensure that we stick to objective procedures to curb subjectivity as much as possible

First off, thank you Loth for a great post.

Secondly, I wanted to comment on your quote above. As a person who has always been entrhalled by psychology, I can only agree 100% with what you said. When we have issues it is almost always 90% of our past driving our behavior and 10% of what is really going on in the present. That works out that way in our relationships, friendships, and yes even our interactions with people on message boards. We are all human, we all make mistakes.

I am also a person who loves PEOPLE and I love it that Etrain has so many unique personalities. I do not know anyone here personally, but i feel like I do know many on a more than casual level.

I would personally like to say that I hope whatever riff has been formed on both boards can be rectified. I hope that we can get back to the business at hand, and that is Loving one young man named Elliott Yamin. Most of us come to these boards to shed some of our normal life stressors and communicate with other fans and talk about our excitement of certain interviews, the shows coming up, etc. It will be a great day when we can put behind the past differences and be just one big Elliott Fan Family. Whenever you have large groups, difference of opinion WILL occur. I just hope that everyone realizes moderators have only done what they deem the best mode of action at that moment of time, and they volunteer that time for the good of the board.

My hat is tipped to the moderators of ETrain and it can be a hard job, a thankless job, and you guys put in your free time to do what you deem best. Like you said Loth, different timezones and geographics prohibit you all from collaberating at the same time, so if one makes a decision that all do not agree with, it is to be expected.

There is no one single hero on Etrain. You all, along with the members, are what make this place tick. I appreciate all members and moderators and just wanted to take a few minutes to sound cheesy and say....you all are what makes this board go round.

One moderator said something recently that i thought was AWESOME and that was "we work for you, you guys, i.e. our members, are what makes this place tick". That is a fantastic way of looking at it. And when that is your philosophy it is hard to go wrong, and if you do make a mistake people are so much more likely to forgive.

Thanks again Loth for your message.

EDITED TO ADD: I am sure not all will agree with me, all i ask is that at least my "opinion" is respected.

[QUOTE=DoxieChickLuvsE,Jun 26 2006, 08:46 PM][quote]
I would personally like to say that I hope whatever riff has been formed on both boards can be rectified. I hope that we can get back to the business at hand, and that is Loving one young man named Elliott Yamin. Most of us come to these boards to shed some of our [/QUOTE]

Doxie - There is not and has never been to my knowledge, any riffs between the boards or between the fans.

And in reference to my earlier post on this thread, I still would like an answer to my question about a mod banning an active member on Yaminions who is registered on E-Train, but has never posted. I am sorry but this question is still on my mind.
If I will never get an answer, then please just tell me so and I will just deal with it. I would prefer having "we will not have an answer for you" over having no answer/acknowledgement or having vague a explanation that says nothing. Thank you

Well I have heard of this for the past few weeks, so there is something going on. Whatever it may be, i hope it is recitified to at least satisfaction of most all members.

lily, if you could detail exactly what your concern is to me via pm, i'm sure i will have an answer for you. thanks.

Doxie, I meant to say no riffs between fans. There is no "Yaminions vs. E-Trainers" as fans.

I hope not Lily!

Loth, I will just resign to the fact that I will not get an answer. I've already received a PM from a mod earlier today that said nothing. I don't want to go through that again. Thank you for offering anyway. If there is a way you can get my deleted post and would like to answer my question, that would be ok with me.

"I hope that this decision is understood?" No it is not understood.

In addition to the mods donating their time, the posters (myself included) have donated MUCH time to this board since that first night it was created, and much time, thought, and effort went into my post as well as other insightful ones on this thread. Removing them is disrespectful. (Where in my post did I violate the posting guidelines?)

You say you kept them. If I had solely wanted the mods to read it, I would have PM'd it. I wanted EVERYONE to read it, posters included. I was not bashing nor going "off topic."

How can you call it "a free exchange of ideas" when you delete an entire thread that most of the posters really put their hearts into?

In my post, I was making a simple point that activities here are representing Elliott, and not very well. And by deleting the whole thread my point was proven.

Thanks for really socking it to me. I put a good faith effort into my "feedback" post, and it's gone now.

I just feel so let-down and deflated right now....

lilefan, i am sorry that you feel that way. like i have already said earlier, those posts may not be here for everyone to see but they have been taken into consideration by the people who should be taking them into consideration and would be in the position to implement them. i do know that not everyone will agree with the decision i have made, but i feel i must act with the majority's interests at hand and my judgment of this situation now warrants the choice i have made. it could very well be a mistake, but i am prepared to live with that. again, i am sorry you feel that way, but i guess that cannot be helped.

lily, i am sorry too that you feel that way. but i can tell you now that we are currently looking into those members who have been banned over the situation you have pointed out and we're still trying to determine now who deserved to be banned legitimately and those who have simply been caught in the crossfire. we have started the process of reinstating some of them and are apologizing for the inconvenience it has caused them.

the immediacy of that situation called for swift action on the part of the mods and we had to lock out the thread and temporarily suspend everyone involved for deliberation later. we hope to finish deliberating on all those involved soon. we apologize if this takes too long but much like above, it cannot be helped.