Most of the guys who know anything on this forum know me. My name is Kris, and I am a pick-up artist. My first post here was written Aug 01, 2006. I have 581 posts to date, including this one. There are very few people on this forum who have both the age and the post-count that I do.
I am known for being helpful. I answer questions. For a really long time, I answered the new guys when no one else would. I have also dealt with some of the most difficult topics in pick-up. I have been referred to as a Pick-up Encyclopedia. I like to think that I am one of the most well-respected individuals on this forum.
This is a criticism, guys. I didn't have a chance to post on
this thread, so I'm afraid my ideas are going to have to require a topic of their own. I will likely be banned for this. If I am, you can contact me at
friggert@hotmail.com. I always browse through my junk-mail box, just in case. I would like to request, however, that should I be banned for posting my opinions here, that you not delete the post itself. Consider it my epitaph.
This is not a criticism of the PMZ. It is not a criticism, even, of
www.pick-up-artist-forum.com. It is instead a criticism of the choices made in selecting the forum's moderators, and the course of conversation that has come after.
I agree that this forum requires moderation. I do not believe that the moderators should have been chosen from the member body. It has proven a polarizing factor. As a long-time moderator myself, I know that there are some attitudes that need to be in place for fair moderation to occur. The most important of these is a distance from the topic. As moderators, I believe you have done yourselves a disservice by becoming involved in petty arguments. Better would have been an impartial force of moderators who enforce forum policy, and do little else. Two people could easily handle this, as infractions tend to be few and far between on well-moderated forums.
By selecting members involved in debates, Brad has effectively chosen sides in those debates. As a business move, I can only see this as detrimental to the future of the forum.
Moreover, the moderators chosen seem to be very vocal, argumentative and lacking in tact. With an impartial policy enforcement team, you would have saved yourself from having these associations tagged to your forum. And make no mistake: whatever associations one links to the moderators, one also links to the forum as a whole. Had the forum been run like this when I first arrived, I would have had no compunctions whatever moving over to mASF. Even though they seem to despise noobs, their moderators tend toward impartiality and they blend into the background.
I personally feel that this was poorly executed, and I truly hope that the moderators ascendant grow into their roles. Do keep in mind, this is not a personal attack; I honestly hope the four of you become better moderators in the future.