Author Topic: Staff Changes Megathread  (Read 17064 times)

Conan

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Staff Changes Megathread
« on: September 02, 2012, 02:16:40 pm »
Figured we should just have a dedicated thread for this subject.

Recently, the staff page was updated for the first time in months.

First, we have Sigil (using a separate account), wife of current administrator Bazeel and known friend of Sciggles and Dragoneer. No known qualifications other than telling people to leave and "free site"ing following the Dec 2011 hack.

Second, we have Hendikins, the new Photography Admin. You may remember FA had an open application for this position a few months ago. No surprise here, he seems to be friends with Summercat, which no doubt influenced the decision to bring him on to staff.

As for departures from staff, it seems that SkieFire has left.

And a reminder that Glaide is still an administrator, no doubt doing absolutely nothing other than threatening to kill himself should he lose his shiny @.

zed

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Re: Staff Changes Megathread
« Reply #1 on: September 04, 2012, 05:21:21 pm »
First, we have Sigil (using a separate account), wife of current administrator Bazeel and known friend of Sciggles and Dragoneer. No known qualifications other than telling people to leave and "free site"ing following the Dec 2011 hack.

I love the "free site" comback. It's a combination of a Jewish mother's guilt trip and a used car salesman's customer service. "Security? It's not like we have a responsiblity to ensure information assurance within our database of sensitive information!" Not even a hacking event can dislodge that sense of entitlement, since the dev team takes such a backseat at FA. And by dev team, I mean yak. And by dev team, I mean competent developers who can move site forward, so I guess I don't mean yak.

Gryphoneer

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Re: Staff Changes Megathread
« Reply #2 on: September 05, 2012, 04:37:21 am »
So, it's cronyism all the way?

Say it ain't so, Preyfar.

Conan

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Re: Staff Changes Megathread
« Reply #3 on: September 13, 2012, 07:47:37 am »
Summercat reveals that new coders are in the works (again):

There's quite a few things I dislike with priorities, but hopefully the new coder/s we're bringing aboard might be able to help :3 Plus I noticed an interesting package being installed that might mean I can halp out a tad. Probably not, though xD

ColeTrain

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Re: Staff Changes Megathread
« Reply #4 on: September 14, 2012, 04:06:58 am »
Summercat reveals that new coders are in the works (again):

There's quite a few things I dislike with priorities, but hopefully the new coder/s we're bringing aboard might be able to help :3 Plus I noticed an interesting package being installed that might mean I can halp out a tad. Probably not, though xD

New coders? How long before Yak chases them away, refusing to work with anyone as he always does when his status as "FA's only and most trusted coder" is put in jeopardy?

zed

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Re: Staff Changes Megathread
« Reply #5 on: September 14, 2012, 01:28:13 pm »
Summercat reveals that new coders are in the works (again):

There's quite a few things I dislike with priorities, but hopefully the new coder/s we're bringing aboard might be able to help :3 Plus I noticed an interesting package being installed that might mean I can halp out a tad. Probably not, though xD

New coders? How long before Yak chases them away, refusing to work with anyone as he always does when his status as "FA's only and most trusted coder" is put in jeopardy?

I'm curious, do you have a source for this? I don't doubt your knowledge, I'm just not familiar with yak drama.

ColeTrain

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Re: Staff Changes Megathread
« Reply #6 on: September 15, 2012, 12:45:42 am »
I'm curious, do you have a source for this? I don't doubt your knowledge, I'm just not familiar with yak drama.

Yak was always having trouble with Neer attempting to bring in new people, claiming it's not necessary and how he can handle everything by himself. I guess he doesn't want people to see what kind of clusterfuck he's doing with the site's code or doesn't want anyone to find out he's giving away FA's server space for his Moldovan friends to host their websites on.

Conan

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Re: Staff Changes Megathread
« Reply #7 on: March 17, 2013, 06:38:43 pm »
In addition to the random idiots being made admin and fucking everything up, FA seems to be losing staff at a faster rate than in recent past. Within the last week or so:

Kitashi, who was the "lead admin" and also working on coding in new features to the site has inexplicably lost their '@' and has been removed from the staff page. Last November, Kitashi said in the first monthly town hall (Also the only monthly town hall) that he was working on making userpage tabs made consistent, removing the +watch and send note tabs from user's own pages, and working on some sort of stream notification system. The first two were said to be done, but have yet to see the light of day.

Hendikins, mentioned in the OP, has also left, citing that he "can not in good conscience agree with certain recent executive decisions." He then promptly created a Weasyl account.
« Last Edit: March 18, 2013, 12:08:51 am by Conan »

Conan

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Re: Staff Changes Megathread
« Reply #8 on: March 20, 2013, 01:38:37 pm »
Kitashi has posted the usual "I don't want to start drama!!!" post that follows these types of things:

Quote
It was not on good terms, and I disavow any and all statements and promises I made regarding FA while Admin Lead. For multiple reasons, I won't go into more detail than this on the matter. For the same reasons, I discourage anyone from leaving replies to this journal or shouts on my page. All that said, the brand new admins are great people trying to help how they can, and it was a joy interviewing and working with them.

I have removed my submissions, primarily because they weren't great to begin with, and partially because I do not foresee the site improving to a state where its features, both coding related and not, are competitive with those of alternative sites. I will still lurk on FA for now, but I will likely begin using another site and supporting artists there instead (and no, I don't need suggestions; I'm already well aware of the alternatives).

It really bothers me former admins rarely ever say anything for fear they'll start "drama", or rather Dragoneer will ban them from the fandom the site. It's quite counter productive, really. "Things need to change, but I don't want to tell people how screwed up things are, so just keep using the site and keep letting these things happen because no one is held accountable."

(But if one of the former admins is reading this, they could always send something to fasucks at vivisector dot org or get on irc.synirc.com #vivisector and we'll make up some story about Pi hacking your computer.)

winserv03fan

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Re: Staff Changes Megathread
« Reply #9 on: March 27, 2013, 06:12:28 pm »
Kitashi apparently talked about the code he changed on FA on an IRC.
tl;dr
He was mad that little changes to the code were taking so long to get the go-ahead. Who wouldn't have expected that!?
« Last Edit: March 28, 2013, 05:35:46 am by winserv03fan »

scribbles

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Re: Staff Changes Megathread
« Reply #10 on: April 07, 2013, 06:32:41 pm »
Summercat complains about being de-adminned here:
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/4512676/

Conan

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Re: Staff Changes Megathread
« Reply #11 on: April 07, 2013, 06:39:42 pm »
Summercat complains about being de-adminned here:
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/4512676/

Additionally, it turns out "Carmen" is Chase.

Yes, that Chase.

an hoopoe

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Re: Staff Changes Megathread
« Reply #12 on: April 08, 2013, 04:00:21 am »
There is another informative thread about chase here: https://forums.vivisector.org/index.php?topic=319.0
if you are unaware of why he is not an appropriate person.

"TheModergator" has recently vanished from the staff page, along with simbathelion. Hendikins has posted a journal mentioning why he quit:

Quote from: Hendikins
Just a cross-post since the FA staff can't delete it here.

Since it is now out in the open (lulz, vivisector, stated on user's admin account, etc.), I'm going to say it in as many words - the direct appointment of Chase to the FA admin team was the final straw that resulted in my stepping down from the team.

Edit for the lulz folks: Sorry guys, I haven't posted in that thread. And I didn't hang around to see if I got along with the guy. This wasn't "I don't get along with this person *ragequit*", it was "I object to this person being here to begin with, based on their history. As this matter is not open to discussion, I'm out of here."

Place your bets folks. Do they remove the journal or ban my account, and do they claim "leaking private information" (hint: none of this is private), "inciting drama", or something else?

Edit #2: Removed as a call out journal. Interesting...

Edit #3: The flushing out of my account there was my own action, not administrative action - just before anyone starts wondering. Yeah, now it has progressed to "ragequit" (well, more along the lines of "fuck 'em, but close enough), not a month ago when the step down happened...

Regards,
Hendikins
^
https://www.weasyl.com/journal/12396

And he had this to say on lulz.net, in response to someone defending the re-appointment of Chase:

Quote
Yeah, I tend to be a handful when confronted with excessive stupidity, and I'm not a "yes man". I also tend to work better in environments where all staff are valued team members whose input is listened to.

Needless to say, once Sciggles started throwing her weight around my days were numbered anyway. This just made me leave sooner rather than later.

-- Hendikins
^
http://lulz.net/furi/res/2566075.html#2566936

Summercat had this to say (in the same thread):

Quote
The worst you guys came up with was that I'm socially awkward, and I like to help out instead of enjoying things. Not exactly anything... damning. Right now I'm not ready to talk about anything, as there's still a chance that things might be worked out. I'm hopeful for that, because I like to help. I like to help out. Sure, I make mistakes. I'm not a perfect being, after all. I'm usually* willing to listen when I'm wrong about items. *I've got hot-button issues. Won't deny that. That said, I'm not saying anything else of substance at this time.

But a local furry responded to him:

Quote
I believe the actual allegation was "you suck up to any furry in any position of authority, regardless of how trivial, in order to have recognition, your name attached to the event." There's a difference between being "involved" and being a sycophant, you're the latter.

And you do. At Califur, at the PS house, you suck up to that OggyWolf girl who is in charge of the so cal furs group all the time... You do more "white-knighting" than actual helping. I think you even suck up to RainbowJokerHound, for fucks sake... and apparently you're still sucking up to Neer and Co, according to the above post.

Why don't you try living life on your own terms for once?

I, and I think a lot of other so cal furs think you're a total brown-noser and for that reason, we have no respect for you, even if you're otherwise a nice person.


« Last Edit: April 08, 2013, 12:26:54 pm by a pigeon »

ColonThree

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Re: Staff Changes Megathread
« Reply #13 on: April 08, 2013, 05:36:02 am »
Chase? Chase?

"@Fur Affinity Administrator - Harassment Unit Leader@"

And he's working on harassment? It's as if we're back in 2005 or something. I honestly thought FA might be (slowly) getting somewhere, since it seems that even some of the 'popufur' artists are having action taken against them, and a whole bunch of new guys are on board. Then this happens. welp
~Witty quote~

SimbaTheLion

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Re: Staff Changes Megathread
« Reply #14 on: April 09, 2013, 12:31:04 pm »
Summercat reveals that new coders are in the works (again):

There's quite a few things I dislike with priorities, but hopefully the new coder/s we're bringing aboard might be able to help :3 Plus I noticed an interesting package being installed that might mean I can halp out a tad. Probably not, though xD

New coders? How long before Yak chases them away, refusing to work with anyone as he always does when his status as "FA's only and most trusted coder" is put in jeopardy?

Finding this post made me laugh.

About six months: http://furaffinityleaks.blogspot.co.uk/ .

nrr

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Re: Staff Changes Megathread
« Reply #15 on: April 09, 2013, 04:35:47 pm »
About six months: http://furaffinityleaks.blogspot.co.uk/ .

I never was even staff, and I went on for five years before I eventually gave up. I met Dragoneer at AC and had a discussion with him about it. The ensuing words went literally nowhere, so I pretty much stopped caring.
im glad the "I saw a furry IRL" thread is so good at bringing goons together

YOUR PARTICIPLES AREN'T THE ONLY THINGS DANGLING

Conan

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Re: Staff Changes Megathread
« Reply #16 on: June 12, 2013, 09:23:54 pm »
FancySkunk, One of the more recently-appointed administrators who sucked FA's cock like a ten-cent hooker, has been de-opped for unknown reasons.

an hoopoe

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Re: Staff Changes Megathread
« Reply #17 on: October 04, 2013, 01:52:37 pm »
They're recruiting yet again:

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/5122085

On the google docs app. form they say:

Quote
Candidates must:
* Be 21 or older.
* Must not be currently enrolled in college/technical school.
* Must be able to give at least 10 hours to the community a week.
* Have Skype

Princess Piche insists that they've added new coders but evidently he couldn't be bothered to add them to the staff list yet:

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/5122085#cid:36326802

I suppose that at this point, they're only going to get new or hopelessly naive people to be on staff.

IIRC The Princess had mentioned on twitter a few weeks ago, in response to being questioned about how trouble tickets were piling up yet again, that they were going to get some more staff. So, as you might have imagined, no change in course.

an hoopoe

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Re: Staff Changes Megathread
« Reply #18 on: December 29, 2013, 03:34:32 am »
Chase has, without any warning, gotten rid of at least one mainsite admin/FA forums admin (QTmelon/Arshes Nei) and a mod from the forums (MLR). The forums mod says he was ditched because he was on staff at weasyl. Note that MLR quotes Chase calling Weasyl a "competitor site":

Quote from: MLR
So, I log on to my FAF account tonight, only to receive a message from the forums' new lord and master Chase that I've been removed from staff. The reason given, of course, being my involvement with Weasyl, a 'competitor site'. So after five or six years working with them, pretty much without incident, without causing offsite drama, without causing leaks or anything, I guess this is what I get.

Oh, but they 'appreciate' what I've done for them up until this time. That's so fucking nice to hear. Yeah: you're welcome, cocksuckers. Have fun sitting around licking each others' assholes from here on out.
^
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/5362239/

From the comments section on the journal:

Quote from: MLR
Honestly, this literally all happened within the last couple of days. It was nice and steady sailing for years, but then Arshes Nei gets booted without forewarning to anyone, Xaerun and the other admins get demoted to Super Moderator for some reason, and Chase gets handed the reins to the whole thing, not knowing dick about the community there or even who the moderators were. Apparently they're now trying to 'better merge the forums and mainsite' or something, but I guess they feel that in order to do that they have to utterly destroy the current structure over there. It's like being asked to build a house for your boss, who doesn't check in with you at all during the construction, only to have him come in after it's finished and have his friend drive a bulldozer into it and knock it right the fuck back down.

I had no opinion of Chase before all this. I now think he and Dragoneer are incompetent scumbags.

Quote from: MLR
Before this, I was rather careful not to make any disparaging remarks in public about some of the incredibly obviously stupid decisions being made by the FA higher-ups, and I tended to reserve judgment since I never knew the full story. I also was rather careful not to share proprietary information between the two sites (that being FAF and Weasyl). You know... because I'm not an idiot or an asshole most of the time, and I held no animosity toward either site (if I did hold any animosity toward a place, I wouldn't volunteer my time to work for them; unlike some folks, I actually do have a life). Of course, I can't just ignore it when my loyalty gets rewarded with a punch in the face.

But I don't want to make this about Weasyl, and whether or not it's so much better than FA. Honestly, that's really neither here nor there. If folks who know me want to migrate over to Weasyl because of this, that's lovely, and quite touching, but I'm not telling anyone they should start an exodus away from this site because of what happened to me. Just know what did happen, and know that you should never, ever try to become part of FurAffinity's staff, if you value your sanity. And don't ever bother trying to fix FA, because the people who run the site do not care what you think. We are but flies. That's the moral here.

This one is very telling WRT to how nothing ever changes with Princess Piche:

Quote from: MLR
I don't know... It's this bizarre paranoia that Dragoneer seems to have about the site, like he has to run a furry art site as though it were the fucking CIA or something, and that everyone everywhere is out to take it all down or subvert it. If only you could read some of the weird shit he posted in one of the threads in the admin forums, equivocating like crazy about why he's so loath to accept coding help from the many thousands of people who have offered it over the years, and completely ignoring addressing legitimate points being made by the staff. It was really quite fascinating to see.

I guess I could have let him know directly at some point that I joined the Weasyl staff (not that I made ANY effort to hide the fact), but honestly the thought never even crossed my mind because of how infrequently I had any kind of contact with the guy. And gee, I guess if I would have let him know earlier, I would have been booted a long time ago!

So is this:

Quote from: MLR
The thing that kills me is, as you know very well, having been forum staff and then main site staff here, I knew just as much about main site goings-on as the regular userbase. Mainsite admins, with the exception of Trpdwarf, bless her heart, made NO effort to contact us about anything, and so I was permanently out of the loop. That being the case, I felt no obligation to keep my activities restricted to FA; FAF has been nearly an independent site for years now, because up until now Dragoneer and everyone else had zero interest in making use of it.

It's interesting that MLR describes the FA forums as being an independent site, because I noted Princess Piche recently referred to the FA forums, just a few days ago, not with the usual royal "we", but "they":

https://twitter.com/Dragoneer/status/416190801916354561

(all bolding in quotes was done by me for emphasis, MLR did not bold anything in his original comments).
« Last Edit: December 29, 2013, 11:32:22 am by a pigeon »

ColonThree

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Re: Staff Changes Megathread
« Reply #19 on: December 29, 2013, 07:47:49 am »
Chase has, without any warning, gotten rid of at least one mainsite admin/FA forums admin (QTmelon/Arshes Nei) and a mod from the forums (MLR).

Term also looks to have been removed. Further, all the previous forum admins are now listed as supermoderators, leaving only Dragoneer and Chase in the forum admin position.
~Witty quote~