<Birkal> hey what's your qualification for deleting posts
<Birkal> why was the tombstone one deleted, for example
<Birkal> that's one of the best threads in firebot o__o
<xenu> the tombstone one was moved to greatest hits
<xenu> iirc
<Birkal> oh I s'pose
<Birkal> I dunno, I think this thread is pretty awful in general
<Birkal> not because it takes a jab at me, but there's not any really funny content in it
<Birkal> when tombstone thread was probably the only funny thing posted in that thread
<Birkal> y'know?
<xenu> wait what thread are you talking about
<xenu> best of smogon?
<Birkal> mhmm
<xenu> oh
<xenu> oh so you mean the post with the tombstone thread in it
<Birkal> yeah
<xenu> well it was missing the point, the "best of smogon" was really a sarcastic title, so in the thread u were supposed to post cringeworthy stuff
<xenu> the tombstone thread was legit god
<xenu> good*
<Birkal> yeah I get that
<Birkal> but from the perspective of people who like to read funny threads in firebot, what does a cringeworthy thread provide
<Birkal> iirc, we've had numerous ones of these bomb in the past
<xenu> well how the thread came about was people were reading the mentor profiles
<xenu> some of which are real pieces of work
<xenu> and decided to post the especially cringeworthy ones in a thread
<xenu> basically a passive aggressive jab
<xenu> which is pretty funny if u have a disposition to certain kinds of humor
<Birkal> i.e. this weird firebot gaggle
<xenu> if u want to put it like that, yea
<Birkal> I dunno, I see a dish like this at it makes me miss older firebot when people would post burns with actual substance
<Birkal> as opposed to this inner cliche that has kind of become a circlejerk
<Birkal> anyways, I'll leave it at that; you're the firebot mod
<Birkal> gonna delete this thread now -- in the future, please do not undelete the threads I delete
<xenu> lol
<xenu> i dont see why the thread should be deleted TBH
<xenu> unless u take offense
<xenu> particularly
<xenu> and even then
<xenu> thats no reason to delete a thread
<Birkal> it's against both firebot and smogon's rules
<xenu> youre welcome to post a comeback "with actual substance"
<xenu> as you put it
<xenu> what rules does it violate
<Birkal> well it's blatantly trolling users / sections of the site
<xenu> i dont see how, it's just a snippet from your mentor profile
<Birkal> nahh, it's more about jukain
<xenu> if you wanna infer a grand conspiracy from that thats your trip dude
<Birkal> I don't really care about people ripping on me
<Birkal> Poppy's RPSI is an excellent post that tore into me -- it was a good post
<Birkal> and it's against firebot rules in that it offers nothing new
<xenu> as firebot moderator i am the interpreter of firebot's rules
<xenu> if you're unhappy with my judgment in that regard
<Birkal> as a smogon global moderator, I am also an interpreter of those rules
<xenu> you are welcome to approach any of the other firemods
<xenu> and bring it up with them, they will have the same answer
<xenu> no offense, but you aren't someone familiar with the firebot culture
<xenu> trolling and callouts might be taboo on other parts of the site
<xenu> but they're bread-and-butter posting on firebot
<xenu> i'd also recommend that if jukain took particular offense to the posting of his profile in that thread, he approach me personally
<xenu> or better yet, suck it up
<Birkal> yeah but this is the third time CAP has come up in the past week or so
<Birkal> it's getting from a friendly jab to being old / not funny
<xenu> didn't see a single mention of CAP in the thread
<Birkal> I know firebot is more light-hearted than other forums, but give it a rest
<xenu> like i said -- i didnt see how cap figures into all this
<Birkal> it is linked directly at the top of the second post
<xenu> if you ask me i'd say the entire cap forum's being playing the victim lately, i will agree that some of firebot's regulars took up a vendetta against it but i can't control that, nor do i want to
<xenu> we don't rig shit in firebot
<Birkal> we don't in CAP either
<Birkal> as I've offered and explained numerous times
<Birkal> but this gaggle has been pretty verbal about not wanting to hear any of it
<xenu> im sure, but this gaggle has pretty much restricted itself to firebot
<Birkal> I'm totally fine with people having legitimate critiques and will chat with them
<xenu> if CAP is so adamant of its innocence i'm unsure why such administrative overreach is necessary to quell criticism in the most lighthearted and inconsequential part of the website
<xenu> i would let it blow over personally
<xenu> but censoring criticism will only propagate it
<xenu> lol
<xenu> already i've seen concerns expressed about the thread's deletion in multiple IRC channels
<Birkal> I'll undelete it, but I really hate to see firebot like this
<Birkal> I agree that it should be a place to make lighthearted jabs
<Birkal> but I mean c'mon, making jabs at /jukain/
<Birkal> does it get any more petty and unoriginal than that
<xenu> i'm glad you understand
<xenu> yeah firebot still has a ways to go
<xenu> w.r.t sophistication of humor
<xenu> but i'm not sure who jukain really is
<xenu> so i don't quite grasp the connotations of that joke
<Birkal> he gets a lot of crap
<Birkal> but something to consider: he's one of the most valuable assets to smogon from how much he uploads to the site
<Birkal> so it's bad PR for firebot from an administrative standpoint when it's driving away one of its best contributors
<Birkal> which made admins want firebot to have more restrictions / be removed
<xenu> firebot has no public image pretensions, it serves a completely different crowd than the rest of the forum
<xenu> it doesn't matter how much you contribute to the site as long as you're likable and funny
<xenu> it's meritocratic in a very different way
<xenu> i dont see why one user should be given preferential treatment for contributing tons to the site when everyone else is fair game
<xenu> and everyone IS fair game
<Birkal> which is understandable, I see why you want to keep it so open
<Birkal> but the only thing firebot really provides to this site is humor
<Birkal> and when it fails to do even that... why do we have it, y'know?
<xenu> good thing humor is entirely subjective
<xenu> and firebot isn't explicitly a comedy forum
<xenu> put simply it's a laid back discussion forum, a counterpoint to cong
<xenu> it's just that that kind of setting is most conducive to humor
<xenu> firebot's bland or hilarious depending on who you ask
<Birkal> I get that firebot is extremely subjective -- I can't imagine what it's like to moderate it
<Birkal> and bland vs humorous is totally fine
<xenu> good thing you dont have to worry about that then, not being a firebot moderator
<Birkal> but when it crosses into the territory of damaging, shouldn't that be where its moderators step in?
<Birkal> that's why I thought v's post was so brilliant, for example
<xenu> absolutely, but i'm yet to post anything that's crossed over into the territory of damaging
<xenu> i routinely delete advertisements, for instance
<Birkal> as a CAP moderator, I see a sole post calling CAP cringeworthy as damaging
<Birkal> especially considering how we've been over this like, twice in the past week
<Birkal> so I guess consider this me "filing a complaint" that firebot is damaging to another part of the site
<Birkal> do what you want with it as a firebot mod
<xenu> the actions of a few users =/= firebot
<xenu> even if they are part of a purported "firebot gaggle"
<xenu> like i said, free speech reigns in firebot -- im morally opposed to silencing criticism
<Birkal> fair enough