So we were talking about Round Tables, rather than vilifying certain or all Mods? That escalated quickly.
The replies are not all about the vilification of mods to be fair, although we're human and sometimes need to vocalise our greivances just as much as anyone else.
When we've lost a few games, all the greivances come out be they from those who think Klopp is tactically niave, to the state of the site.
To get back to Round Tables, the easy answer is the nasty powerhungry mods banned all the good writers so know no one writes anymore, I know that's an over simplification but to balance it all out, the flipside is that, all the members have become lazy and can't be arsed. But the truth is more complex and alluded to in some of the other posts.
Rawk was part of the first wave of the internet, it's been based on alturistic principals, it's never been about making money even when the offers came in and they have, from European trips for the mods from some of the club's partners to large offers of cash for the owners, they've all been principally rejected because of our ethos but the internet has changed and what was often free has become about making a living, Claire may redesign the site for free but many of our best writers have gone on to paid work on different sites and good luck to them, RAWK is proud that we've had a hand in developing some outstanding writers, we have always tried to be site that wasn't just about the lowest common denominator or just a flaming site that many football forums fall into but that has been at the cost of accusations that the site is moderated on principals that would be at home in North Korea but the internet is changing.
Forums aren't the only format in town and yes they allow the many to express a view and in that sense are democratic but look at the comments page of any newspaper to see the other side of the equation, they amplify the opinions of every idiot who wants to push their worthless cliche ridden views or untruths and it's difficult to strike a balance at times, we allow in a new flock of people onto the site, get rid of the obvious idiots hoping to find new blood to encourage them to write but times have changed, we lost some great mods who nurished and encouraged, not for dramatic reasons but generally because their lives have moved on, we don't seem to be attracting a younger set of writers willing to participate in Round Tables, alot of our scribes aren't writing or taking part anymore and it's not just as simple as the mods are all a bunch of ****'s
RAWK is free, it has an admirable ethos, we all give commitment to it for various reasons and that makes it work but we're facing structural changes to the way people use the internet, we may survive those changes, who knows but kicking off at each other because we've had a bad few games and the fanbase feels pissed off, isn't going to help anyone and at best will lead to Phyricc victories.
This isn't a debate where it's helpful to have the Terms of Reference as The Mods VS The Members or vice versa.