Astrum

I've noticed some of you discussing what Potshot did. I should clarify that at this time I physically can't view demos so I've not seen the demo for myself. If he was mic spamming constantly and people were complaining then there are various ways to handle this which include but aren't limited to banning from our servers for a period of time, demotion in rank, or a strike if it's especially severe1. Like I said though, I haven't viewed the demo. To my understanding it wasn't anything serious. The reason the strike was reverted was in part because he wasn't using his admin powers and therefore could hardly be abusing them. There's more to it than that, but I'm afraid I can't discuss it further. It suffices to say that the other Board members and Red viewed it and decided it wasn't worthy any of the aforementioned punishments. I have no opinion on what he actually did since I haven't seen the demo. I've seen admins bend the rules to good effect, I've also seen them bend the rules to ill effect. It's pretty hard to make rules to prevent the latter while allowing the former. When the community was smaller it was much less diversified and easier to allow that. There's no simple fix for this problem though. Jailbreak is a roleplaying gametype. We can't legislate how you roleplay for the most part. If you don't like how the game is going, feel free to leave the server and join another one. You should take off those rose-tinted glasses, they're clouding your judgement. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Interesting take on things but all of our "power" is useless without members supporting the community both financially and socially. Since everyone is free to come and go as they please unlike with a real government with borders and a military, so I'm not horribly concerned. That said not everything can be transparent. More open perhaps, although not completely. Isn't this the opposite of open? In either case that would require a lot of extra work for Haggard. Every time a new complaint is made he'd have to personally repost it without the name including all proof2. However, you're always free to PM such things to the Board, VP, or Haggard (do not spam his PM box) if you wish to remain anonymous. This already happens on a semi-regular basis. It will. It doesn't matter what kind of system we have, it will eventually happen again. However, someone of higher rank can overturn their decision. I prefer to have a system of appeals rather than a "perfect" solution. Perhaps this could be made more official with more discussion. Between personal lives and timezone differences it would pretty much be impossible to get 80% of the AOs+ in on a discussion. For a reference that would require all AOs, plus the AM, plus one BD. There's a 7/8 split between US residents and Europe residents. This would guarantee admin complaints are never dealt with. Currently we generally make a thread in the appropriate forum and discuss it, but even then due to timezone differences and personal lives it's hard to get everyone discussing it. We try to take care of all support issues in a timely fashion. We keep a record of all strikes issued as well as some other information. How do you expect us to remember when someone has accumulated three strikes? Our memories aren't perfect . 1 By especially severe I mean an admin basically griefing a server. 2 All proof uploaded to the SG webserver would either be duplicated or manually deleted and re-uploaded. 3 Added subscript and superscript tags since I'm sick of using asterisks. The tags are [noparse][/noparse] and [noparse][/noparse] respectively3.

I'm not sure. I already have a few things I'd like to talk to the AOs (and BDs) about. If you have any suggestions speak up. Unfortunately I'm not familiar with Paul's complaint or many of them for that matter. Do to personal circumstances I rarely get on vent and haven't spoken on vent for over a month (no mic). Most information is exchanged in vent unfortunately so I'm missing out on a lot of things. I didn't even know about Potshot's strike until the notice went out. One of the benefits of being a recluse is you have no reason to hate strangers. I'm not sure if any higher-up actually dislikes Awacs, but all of their emotional baggage should be checked at the door. This doesn't always happen, but that's why we require more than one AO to give a strike; I think it's two other AOs or a BD, but don't quote me on that. In either case it probably is a coincidence and nothing more. I'd also like to say that if the verdict of an admin complaint is questionable, it's always possible the Board will or is already reviewing it. Also keep in mind that sometimes things go on behind the scenes which you don't see which may influence our decisions. It could be that a seemingly unjust strike is perfectly just but we aren't able to provide the evidence because of confidentiality, security, etc... I'm not going to audit everything as I physically don't have the time, but from this moment on if you seriously object to something such as an admin complaint please PM me and I'll either look into it or explain (at least as much as I can) why it was done. If enough people PM me I'll probably just update the complaint thread to make it more clear. Please don't spam my PM box . Wasn't there an AO that got a strike at some point? Perhaps I'm mistaken, my memory is a bit foggy right now. You don't see everything. This thread was not the reason the punishment was reverted, we began talking about reverting it approximately 16 hours before this thread was even created. As far as not realizing the punishment was wrong before punishing him, I agree. This shouldn't happen, but it did. GarfieldH is quite correct, everyone makes mistakes. To be human is to be fallible.

First and foremost the reason for the move. I know many of you may think this is an attempt to censor or cover up a dissenting voice, but this is not the case. As you can see the thread has been returned unaltered*. It was moved to give us time to reply so that things didn't get out of hand. I didn't want people to get any crazy ideas in their heads and run with them which has happened before. Second, as GarfieldH has already stated the punishments have been reversed. The Board reviewed this and decided that such punishments were not warranted. Specifically in Potshot's case he was not using his admin abilities and therefore it didn't make sense to give him a strike for abuse of power. I'll be investigating the specifics of this case a bit further. As far as the disparity in treatment from one person, or group to the next I can say that I am personally aware of this. If you see unfair treatment please feel free to point it out to the appropriate people which may be the Officers, Board, or the Vice-President or President. You can rate the performance of any of the higher staff using a form (I'll get the link when I get back from the store). Haggard is the only person who can read these and your name will be held in confidentiality. Other than that I'll try and keep my eye out for it. I firmly believe that rules apply to everyone, even me. Please feel free to discuss this openly. I'll try to respond to this thread as often as possible with any questions or concerns you may have if I am able. If it's an issue with a particular member of the higher staff then consider discussing it through PMs with the appropriate people. *It was moved back to OT because at this time there's no better place for it. This will hopefully change in the near future.

Can't speak for PolSci, but I wouldn't consider going to a top school for math. Your first two years will be identical to any other university in the country. Your second two years will be more varied depending on the courses offered. It's best to look at this and see their selection of courses. Honestly where you get your bachelors is less important than where you get your graduate degree (either masters or doctorate). I'd personally save the big expenses until then. You can enroll in pretty much any university as an open major. Most college student switch majors at least once as well. I went to university for a degree in electrical engineering, switched to computer science after a while, then picked up a second major in math. Trust me when I say you may not know what you want to do even after you graduate.

I'd liken the AO position to that of a judge.

Perhaps we should just remove all of the other sections. We're definitely putting expensive software to good use!

So... Why is this in Off Topic?

That explains why I never play in our servers...

If it were up to me I'd nuke OT.

Well first he linked to the IP ban list for the servers, not the web page. Generally people don't buy new accounts so IP banning generally isn't necessary. Even if they buy a new account it's easy to just ban that SteamID. In a way we support Valve that way I guess. This sort of ban is generally reserved for people who try to exploit our servers in various ways. Although sometimes even this isn't enough and we use Counter-Strike: Source's built in ban manager which is more effective at stopping them from abusing our servers.

Well I was hoping to use a nifty vBulletin feature for this... Don't ruin my fun.

I'll only comment on the Mayan calendar thing. It's no different than Y2K. Seriously, it's exactly the same. Now if nothing bad happened when 2000 rolled around, how would something bad happen when an ancient calendar nobody uses rolls back around to zero? Last I checked none of our infrastructure, satellites, etc... depended on that calendar.

That thing looks sexy, Repeat.

Alright, it's time for a mega-update. First the S&W 357 Revolver I mentioned earlier in this thread, here's the actual picture after I finished cleaning it up a bit. The strap next to it is from an M1A. Now time for a bunch of old guns, at least 50 years old, some double that. I haven't fired any of these as most of them need some work. They're quite interesting pieces though, so I thought I'd share them. Sorry for the poor picture quality on some, I was in a bit of a rush and I only had my cell phone camera. Origin: France Time Period: Pre-WWII to WWII Manufacturer: MAS (Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne) Model: ??? Notes: If it looks like I'm straining my hand, I am. The slide release needs some work as I can't lock the slide back. Also I have no idea what model gun this is. The only inscription is the manufacturer, but I can't for the life of me figure out the model. It's very similar to the MAB Model D* as well as the FN Browning M1922 (2nd Variation) (and countless more variants later on). I've found pictures of both of these pistols, but I've yet to find one made by MAS with the same, or very similar design. Perhaps it's quite rare, I'm not sure. Origin: China Time Period: Post-WWII Manufacturer: ??? Model: Tokarev TT-33 M20 Notes: This pistol is a descendant of the USSR TT-33 built sometime after 1954 and is very similar to the TT-33 Type 54 except for the markings. I can't find a manufacturer for this, but it was definitely produced in China. Origin: United States Time Period: 1918-1927 Manufacturer: Remington UMC Model: Model 51 Notes: Not much to say about this one. This is the .380 ACP version. Probably the easiest gun to identify on this list. Origin: Sweden Time Period: 1897 to 1905 Manufacturer: Husqvarna Vapenfabriks Aktiebolag Model: m/1887 Notes: Old, old revolver. Originally manufactured by Brothers Nagant, picked up by Husqvarna 10 years later. This could be just as old as the 1892 Ordnance Revolver shown next, but I haven't looked into it yet. Origin: France Time Period: 1892-1924 Manufacturer: Manufacture France d'Armes** Model: 1892 Ordnance Revolver Notes: Another very old revolver. This particular one was made in 1897 I believe. This gun does need repairs though. The cylinder rotates slightly when the chamber should be lined up with the barrel. It wouldn't be very pleasant to fire this if the two weren't lined up. Still, it's quite an interesting piece. Origin: Sweden Time Period: 1907 Manufacturer: Husqvarna Vapenfabriks Aktiebolag Model: m/1907 Notes: Another interesting and quite old piece. Originally designed by John Browning and sold to FN, later licensed to Husqvarna. I'm almost positive this is the m/1907, although the sights and rear slide are slightly different. There's more room after the grooves on all m/1907 pistols I've seen. It appears to have the same slide release as the FN wz.03. Origin: United States Time Period: 1903-1945 Manufacturer: Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company Model: Model 1908 Type I Notes: This is the .380 ACP version. I'm pretty sure this is the Type I variant but I'd have to look closer. Origin: Germany Time Period: 1922-1926? Manufacturer: Deutsche Werke Model: Ortgies .32 ACP Notes: Not sure on the exact model or even how many were made. Apparently it wasn't a very good gun though. Origin: Germany Time Period: 1922-1930 Manufacturer: ? Model: Haenel-Scmeisser Mod I Chrome Notes: Interesting pocket piece, although I am very unsure of who the manufacturer was. This is actually in pretty good condition, the chrome still shines nicely. Origin: South Africa Time Period: 1954-1957 Manufacturer: PAF (Pretoria Arms Factory) Model: PAF Junior Notes: Made in South Africa which is kind of interesting. Apparently only about 10,000 were made. Origin: France Time Period: 1914-1960 Manufacturer: FN (Fabrique Nationale) Model: Le Français "Modele de Poche" Notes: Very interesting gun here. This is one of the earlier models. In the pictures I show how the barrel operates, and even the tiny firing pin which feels more like a toy gun when (dry) firing than a real one. There is also a slide on this (as one would expect with a semi-automatic pistol). Although I'm not sure exactly how it works since I saw no ejection mechanism to dispose of the spent casing when the slide blows back. Bonus: Everyon loves stripper clips! Guess the caliber and you get a prize. Also, these don't go to anything. Just something interesting. Conclusion: Lots of interesting guns which are all quite old, one is even 112 years old (the MF 1892 Ordnance Revolver). If you have any questions I'll be glad to answer them to the best of my knowledge. However, most of the information I've already presented. I'd also like to reiterate that I've never fired any of these and probably won't for a long time. Most of these need to be looked at by a gun smith, and I'd like to restore some of the more interesting pieces. None of them are for sale. *Most of which say Manufacture d'Armes de Bayonne on the side, not the one on this page though. **It doesn't specify where exactly it's from.

Cool. Put in a good word for me and get me a job ;).

My father is making his will and he let me choose a few things that I wanted when he passes. I'm not going to list them all, ask me on vent if you want to know, but the choice piece was a M1898 Krag-Jørgensen. Currently the stock is separated from the rest of the gun. My father had planned on getting a custom stock for it, or having the old one reworked. Mechanically the gun is in perfect condition though. I don't have any pictures (mostly because it's in pieces right now), but I did find a on youtube showing off the unique loading design. Enjoy, I know I will one day =).

First, this thread is God damn pointless. Seriously. If you just want people to sign their name then make a public poll, that's why they were invented. Second, this is a gaming oriented community. Why is this even a subject? If this was alt.fan.furry then yeah, great subject, but it isn't. Socialize but do it within reason. You don't join a Catholic church and then start talking about how great abortion is with the other members. It's not the appropriate place. Third, I haven't seen anything offensive recently. Granted I've been busy for the past two months and haven't been reading the forum much, but I don't get a ton of reported posts. If someone has an avatar or signature which is in bad taste then report it, we'll review it. For instance, KennyG's avatar is fine. Please note that if you report a post because of a signature, make sure to specify that in the reason as I don't browse the forums with signatures turned on*. Fourth, locked. *The forum looks like a three year old vomited on a mouse and the ensuing electrical fire managed to open up MS Paint and randomly splatter color everywhere. I'm seriously thinking about restricting signatures so the forum actually looks like a mature community rather than one where signatures are larger than posts.

Alright, I just spent 20 minutes cleaning this thread up. If this thread gets called to my attention again it's getting nuked. Keep it civil.