Why is Ed Zotti no longer modding the Pit?

[Skald the Rhymer]

Just curious. I thirst for all knowledge, as you know.

ETA: And, incidentally, if I had meant to start a thread cheering for him no longer doing so, I would've done so in one of the other boards.

[Covered_In_Bees!]

Just curious. I thirst for all knowledge, as you know.

Hilarious! Next time I ask an underhanded question I'm going to use this. :D

Seriously though, I just assumed he stopped because he was practically burned at the stake for his attempted changes. And we all know the stake is reserved for virus and malware writers. The likes of which Ed obviously didn't want to be associated with.

[Skald the Rhymer]

Hilarious! Next time I ask an underhanded question I'm going to use this.

I reserve the referenced remark for NOSY questions which I have no right to have answered. If I have an inquiry that would be underhanded instead, I prefer to manipulate the person into volunteering the information. Otherwise why would I keep around all these damn eel-worms?

[Covered_In_Bees!]

I reserve the referenced remark for NOSY questions which I have no right to have answered.

Okay, my mistake.

If I have an inquiry that would be underhanded instead, I prefer to manipulate the person into volunteering the information.

I have much to learn from you. :)

[C K Dexter Haven]

He's stopped because he's way too busy with all the other things he's doing. We've had a number of moves of moderators in the last few days.

[Loach]

He's stopped because he's way too busy with all the other things he's doing. We've had a number of moves of moderators in the last few days.

Such as? I don't remember mod moves in the past that weren't announced.

[Revenant Threshold]

Such as? I don't remember mod moves in the past that weren't announced. Quite possibly they're not set in stone yet. At least that would be my guess.

[TubaDiva]

You can always see who is moderating where on the message board by looking at the forum leader list:

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showgroups.php

You can also check the individual forum areas -- the moderators are listed towards the bottom of the page on the right hand side.

No big moves here of any mention; mostly it's people who had more than one forum dropping off one and going to another one, like Rico, who drops off GQ but stays at IMHO. We're looking forward to the return of Invisible Wombat, who has been on a break and returns to us in a few days. Ukulele Ike has retired -- but he's not been around much for a while so that's not news.

Ed's not directly moderating the boards at this time due to the pressure of other business.

[pseudotriton ruber ruber]

Glad to know that Ed had so much free time just a few months ago, with CL in crisis, that he had nothing better to do than mod here several hours a day.:rolleyes:

Can you test another version of this spin, please? I'm not buying this one. "Ed's been promoted to another position in CL, as a reward for his excellent supervision of the Dope in the past six months, that will unfortunately keep him out of range of the internet for the foreseeable future" is pretty plausible.

Compared to this, anyway.

[carnivorousplant]

I would've done so in one of the other boards.

Other boards? :confused:

[Sapo]

Other boards? :confused:
The snarkpit, The Giraffe Board and Domebo

[Sapo]

Glad to know that Ed had so much free time just a few months ago, with CL in crisis, that he had nothing better to do than mod here several hours a day.:rolleyes:

Can you test another version of this spin, please? I'm not buying this one. "Ed's been promoted to another position in CL, as a reward for his excellent supervision of the Dope in the past six months, that will unfortunately keep him out of range of the internet for the foreseeable future" is pretty plausible.

Compared to this, anyway.
If I had to guess, he only had to jump in in the midst of chaos while rules were changing and mods were bailing (although that might run into a bit of a chicken and egg thing). Now that the situation is once again stable, he slipped out. Or maybe he just got tired of plowing the seas and gave up. Or maybe he is happy with how things turned out and called it Mission Accomplished.

At any rate, let sleeping dogs lie.

[Marley23]

No big moves here of any mention; mostly it's people who had more than one forum dropping off one and going to another one, like Rico, who drops off GQ but stays at IMHO. We're looking forward to the return of Invisible Wombat, who has been on a break and returns to us in a few days. Ukulele Ike has retired -- but he's not been around much for a while so that's not news.
To round out the list, SkipMagic is still an admin but is no longer actively moderating MPSIMS and Cafe Society [if anybody got a sudden 'there goes the neighborhood' feeling in Cafe Society, it's because I came onboard a while back]. fluiddruid took a temporary assignment to help out in IMHO some time ago, and that's done. She's still modding The Game Room and The Barn House. Reports in the SD Chicago forums are going to TubaDiva and C K Dexter Haven, although I think that was the case anyway.

[Loach]

To round out the list, SkipMagic is still an admin but is no longer actively moderating MPSIMS and Cafe Society [if anybody got a sudden 'there goes the neighborhood' feeling in Cafe Society, it's because I came onboard a while back]. fluiddruid took a temporary assignment to help out in IMHO some time ago, and that's done. She's still modding The Game Room and The Barn House. Reports in the SD Chicago forums are going to TubaDiva and C K Dexter Haven, although I think that was the case anyway.

Was that too hard? There has always been notification of these changes before. Several mods moving, one coming back and two leaving does not fit into the category of "No big moves here of any mention".

[SkipMagic]

That's not correct, Loach. Most changes in forum assignments are made without any notification. You generally see announcements when mods initially come on board or leave altogether, but forum changes (typically) go without mention. During my time here, for example, I picked up Cafe Society and ATMB, and no announcements were made. Dex left Cafe Society for a while and we didn't post anything (nor was anything said when he returned); Marley23 was added to Cafe Society without any mention. It really isn't that big of a deal.

[Loach]

You generally see announcements when mods initially come on board or leave altogether, but forum changes (typically) go without mention.

Ike is leaving. Ed is not modding. You are not modding. Wombat is coming back. Those are just forum changes? I don't feel strong enough about it to go back and look for examples to refute you since you threw in that (typically) to cover yourself.

[Covered_In_Bees!]

Can you do nothing but piss and moan about this board's management?

[aldiboronti]

Was Ed's modding of the Pit ever meant to be more than a temporary thing?

It seems to me that he stepped in to make the changes he wanted, stayed awhile to make sure the Pit was running on an even keel again, then, when he was satisfied that it was, drew back and left the day-to-day running of the place in the hands of his staff again.

[SkipMagic]

Sure, I threw in a 'typically'. Makes sense, since I'm sure you can find some thread in our ten year history where a forum change was announced. But as a matter of course since I've been a mod, forum assignments, hiatuses and returns haven't been mentioned. Outside this thread, I don't even recall the last time someone even said anything about changed forum assignments.

As for your question, aldiboronti, I can't speak for Ed, so I won't. But I'll note that Gfactor's done an excellent job in the Pit since he took over moderation duties there, so I'm glad he's at the helm.

[Loach]

But I'll note that Gfactor's done an excellent job in the Pit since he took over moderation duties there, so I'm glad he's at the helm.

No argument here.

[Sapo]

Can you do nothing but piss and moan about this board's management?
Calm down. Why does every comment has to be seen as a personal affront, a piss and a moan? He is asking, he is getting the answer. No drama here.

[DSYoungEsq]

Ike is leaving. Ed is not modding. You are not modding. Wombat is coming back. Those are just forum changes? I don't feel strong enough about it to go back and look for examples to refute you since you threw in that (typically) to cover yourself.

Calm down. Why does every comment has to be seen as a personal affront, a piss and a moan? He is asking, he is getting the answer. No drama here.

The juxtaposition of these two posts is enough to get my chuckle for the day. :p

[Marley23]

Was that too hard? There has always been notification of these changes before. Several mods moving, one coming back and two leaving does not fit into the category of "No big moves here of any mention".
Not all of this happened at once. I joined up in Cafe Society about two months ago, and SkipMagic stepped down from there and MPSIMS last month. There's usually notification when somebody retires from moderating altogether, but for intraforum moves, not always, because some of it is short term stuff like covering for somebody who goes on vacation or gets busy with work for an extended period.

[Loach]

The juxtaposition of these two posts is enough to get my chuckle for the day. :p

Objection; facts not in evidence.

Not all of this happened at once. I joined up in Cafe Society about two months ago, and SkipMagic stepped down from there and MPSIMS last month. There's usually notification when somebody retires from moderating altogether, but for intraforum moves, not always, because some of it is short term stuff like covering for somebody who goes on vacation or gets busy with work for an extended period.

That makes sense but this seemed to be a bit more than that. Seemed odd to me.

[C K Dexter Haven]

Ed never intended to be modding the Pit permanently, he wanted to mod during the transition period into the new rules. That's happened, and he's way busy with other areas.

As has been noted, we've never bothered to announce changes within the mod group, only when mods join for first time and (usually) when they retire. There may be an exception now and again, but that's been the policy for ages. Sorry if it seems "a bit more than that" to you, Loach, but that's just your perception. Internal mod changes happen way too frequently to bother to announce them every time. Borrrrrring.

[TubaDiva]

The actual day to day modding of the message board often changes depending on real life situations in people's lives. We all have jobs and families and other responsibilities and the time each of us can devote to this place varies accordingly. We've even been known to take vacation time and not read the board at all while we're gone.

The staff covers as needed. It's not news.

Sometimes when a moderator steps down they simply want to rejoin the greater community without any fuss. If they request a quiet exit we don't publicize their departure.

[Exapno Mapcase]

Ooh, ooh, ooh, I know, Mr. Kotter. Ed is off busily adding references to Cecil's columns like he promised oh so many months ago.

Am I close?

[TubaDiva]

Yeah, you are. Would you mind stepping back a little bit?

Thanks. :)

[Northern Piper]

We've even been known to take vacation time and not read the board at all while we're gone.

I'm having trouble groking this sentence... :confused:

[Chronos]

Quoth Loach:Such as? I don't remember mod moves in the past that weren't announced. Precisely, you don't remember them. Dopers of all people should know a selection effect when we see one.

[Ed Zotti]

Was Ed's modding of the Pit ever meant to be more than a temporary thing?

It seems to me that he stepped in to make the changes he wanted, stayed awhile to make sure the Pit was running on an even keel again, then, when he was satisfied that it was, drew back and left the day-to-day running of the place in the hands of his staff again.That's pretty much it. I've been swamped with other things, the changes worked out OK, Gfactor has been doing a great job. I like modding and wish I could participate more on the boards than I do, but there's only so much time in the day.

[DSYoungEsq]

That's pretty much it. I've been swamped with other things, the changes worked out OK, Gfactor has been doing a great job. I like modding and wish I could participate more on the boards than I do, but there's only so much time in the day.

Time spent Doping doesn't count against the 24 does it??? :eek:

Man! No WONDER I'm 48! :smack:

[Frank]

I've been swamped with other things, the changes worked out OK, Gfactor has been doing a great job.
He has, granted. I wouldn't mind another mod to replace Lynn, who I feel should have retired (both as a mod and an admin) long ago.

[Loach]

Quoth Loach:Precisely, you don't remember them. Dopers of all people should know a selection effect when we see one.

Which is why I wasn't stomping my feet, yelling out wild accusations and calling down bolts of lightning from the heavens. I asked some questions and they were answered. I didn't even try to search to prove anyone wrong.

[DSYoungEsq]

Which is why I wasn't stomping my feet, yelling out wild accusations and calling down bolts of lightning from the heavens.

Dang, you can do that?? I keep trying and all that happens is I get static electricity and wild hair. :(

[Loach]

Dang, you can do that?? I keep trying and all that happens is I get static electricity and wild hair. :(

Practice, practice, practice.

[DSYoungEsq]

Practice, practice, practice.

Um, I've already lost a goodly chunk of hair so far. I keep up the practice, I'll be darn near totally bald, which is NOT a good look in my case! :o

[Guinastasia]

Does this mean we can get the old rules back? ;)