Author Topic: Anarkey  (Read 4483 times)

chornbe

  • Extern
  • *
  • Posts: 19
on: January 09, 2010, 10:22:13 AM
I'm not trying to stir the pot, but I wanted to comment in the locked thread...

Quote
That's not your call to make.  It's mine (and that of other moderators).  And I just made it.

If you think I don't know that you stated your position obliquely, referring to the site's professionalism instead of Al's directly so you would have this fallback position of claiming you were not acting like a jackass, then you think I'm stupider than I am.  I suspect that my calling you on it has made you angry, and that accounts for the increase in typos and the generally less coherent follow up post you've made.  It is not my intent to anger you, and I'm sorry if my confrontational nature has put you off.  I'm not a kid gloves handling moderator.  We have different styles.  Nonetheless, you did insult Al.

I honestly didn't read his commentary against Al as anything but stating that Al really needs a better recording setup. Being a podcaster on a shoe-string budget - *and* trying to be as professional as possible about it - it's quite possible to record some rather excellent-sounding audio on a $13 USB headset.

No one was saying Al's not professional - his delivery, his commentary, his intro/out-tro, it's all very professional and engaging and conversational... it's fine.

And yes, the audio quality on the pieces he records is often not up to the standards expected these days... nor up to the standards of other vocalists on EP. That's not a dig at Al at all... and I'll be happy to buy or donate a headset if it will help fix that.

Al was not attacked in that post (not by Osama - horrible choice for a name by the way, dude). No one was questioning Al's professionalism. I get that the negativity and barrage of criticism can wear on people - believe me I get that - but I think you read in a little more than was actually there.

$.02

Keep up the great work - I love EP!

More Union Dues, please!

http://thepacepodcast.com


eytanz

  • Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 6109
Reply #1 on: January 09, 2010, 03:21:22 PM
There are rules in conversation - in real life as well as on these forums - as to how to react when you've been misunderstood.

If I say "X" and person B responds "You shouldn't have said Y, that's offensive", then I have (at least) two options:

- The first is to say something along the lines of "I'm sorry you were offended, but that was not my intention. I meant to say X, not Y".

- The second is to get angry and say "I didn't say Y, I said X, and you are an idiot for thinking I said Y"

The moment you choose the second choice, your original intentions don't matter. I actually believe myself that Anarkey misinterpreted Osamabinlondon's initial intentions, but that doesn't matter. Moderators aren't there to serve as interpretors, they're there to deal with potential issues. If she misinterpreted it, then other people may have as well, which means she was right to post a warning. OBL could have easily clarified his intentions in a civilised manner and moved on. He chose another path.

Also, having listened to a few minutes of the episode before deciding I'll rather wait for the re-recording, it's pretty obvious that the overall quality of Al's recording instruments is irrelevant. Whatever went wrong with the episode, it was much clearly not part of a general pattern with Alasdair. OBL (and you, in the above post) may have not intended anything personal about Al; but meta-commentary about the standards that EA allows its staff to record in do not belong in episode threads either, in my opinion - and, more importantly, in the opinions of the moderators as they expressed it.



Bdoomed

  • Pseudopod Tiger
  • Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 5891
  • Mmm. Tiger.
Reply #2 on: January 09, 2010, 09:47:06 PM
Normally I'd say something but eytanz has done a great job (and probably a better job too) of saying what I and any other moderator would have said.  We all backed Anarkey's reaction to OBL's post.  The fact is that Al has done so much for the podcast of his own free will, and he consistently gets shit despite that.  Yes the recording quality could be better, but even so, as eytanz mentioned, the episode in question was well outside the range of quality that normally comes from Al.

Now I hope you do not feel put off by these retorts, by all means you are entitled to your opinion and we are entitled (tho not necessarily required) to back ours.

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


cdugger

  • Peltast
  • ***
  • Posts: 144
  • I read to be smart...er.
Reply #3 on: January 09, 2010, 10:17:10 PM
Maybe we should rename this to "The Never Ending Gripe".

There was a rare problem, they are fixing it. Period.

The mods do a great job, and so do the readers and editors. If you don't like a story/reading/audio, say that you didn't like it, then drop it. These are forums, not cage matches.

I read, therefore I am...happy.