h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

... in loud, capital letters... "I AM AN ACEH**E!"

This comes from the Aces page:

"The Aces meet and greet newcomers to h2g2 . They are particularly kind and helpful members of the h2g2 community, so if you have a question or need directions, ask an Ace! They'll be only to happy to help."

Your page says that you have specifically de-volunteered yourself from the tasks listed. It makes me wonder why you have the badge at all. And you contradict yourself. You don't have time to respond if someone says hello back to you, but you have enough time to read every forum for signs of smoke?

This comes from the page entitled "What do the Aces do?":

"The Aces' role can be summarised as follows:

To set an example to the rest of the Community by being upstanding members of h2g2 and by embodying the core values of h2g2.

To enthusiastically meet and greet new Researchers on h2g2, and encourage them to join the Community. We like to provide as personal a service as we can, and one of the best ways to encourage new Researchers to explore the site and to get the best from h2g2 is to greet them personally on their Personal Spaces, and to point them towards current Guide and Community activity. The New Users page can be used to find out who to greet.

To encourage and stimulate participation in h2g2 by pointing Researchers towards things they might enjoy on h2g2.

To offer guidance to Researchers, and to refer Researchers with questions to the Don't Panic Help Centre for the Gurus to help out."

Nowhere on the Ace pages does it even *begin* to discuss problem resolution. You're making up a role that doesn't exist. You're acting as a self-selected Arbiter. And, I might add, you're doing a terrible job of it. You're doing a poor job of maintaining that first requirement, I hasten to add.

"{quote}
I hope you've noticed the condescending nature of this post, because it's been done on purpose. I'd like to know how you feel about it. I'd really like to know how you'd feel about several more of me, posting this to your personal space. If you're angry with me, and you're ready to post the most angrily crafted piece of vitriol you've ever posted, then congratulations. There is hope for you yet.
{endquote}

No comment. I do not feel very much like responding to remarks like these on this thread. Just one thing : You requested in one of your post on the intelligence-thread that it might be better to end the vitriol. I replied that I agreed with that. Your post basically just goes on where it left off on the intelligence-thread. I ask you to please do as you suggested yourself and stop this line of conversation here as it will lead nowhere."

You really should stop saying stupid things. I've *never* posted anything in the intelligence thread. I've read it, but I've never posted in it.

Colonel Sellers, just getting warmed up

Correction: You directly state that you do not have time to read each and every forum. However, you *do* state that one advantage you possess that qualifies you as community peacekeeper is your copious time online. And yet, you still can't respond to a hello?

My experience as an Ace, which I used to actually meet and greet, was that very few researchers responded, and of those, fewer still required much in the way of response from me.

{quotes}

1. ... in loud, capital letters... "I AM AN ACEH**E!"

2. Your page says that you have specifically de-volunteered yourself from the tasks listed. It makes me wonder why you have the badge at all.

3. You contradict yourself. You don't have time to respond if someone says hello back to you, but you have enough time to read every forum for signs of smoke?

4. Nowhere on the Ace pages does it even *begin* to discuss problem resolution. You're making up a role that doesn't exist. You're acting as a self-selected Arbiter. And, I might add, you're doing a terrible job of it. You're doing a poor job of maintaining that first requirement, I hasten to add.

5. You really should stop saying stupid things. I've *never* posted anything in the intelligence thread. I've read it, but I've never posted in it.

{endquote}

I will not respond to this line of "discussion" as is is useless. If you have further complaints I suggest you take it up with someone else.


Towelmaster.

Actually, we often do respond to greetings. I just got here, but I think I can piece together what happened...

1. you said "Hi" on the Ace's page, and we didn't return your call. We rarely check these pages; you'd have done better to actually contact one of us!

2. You got welcomed, replied, and the ACE didn't return. That IS the ACE's fault, but you don't need to take it out on ACEs as a whole. Just because one ACE has to go away for a weekend doesn't mean that all ACEs stink.

3. You never got welcomed. How long has it been? Every friday, we run a program that finds all the people we missed, so we'll get to you.

Whichever it is, you don't need to go off the handle. And yes, in the "What is an ace?" page, part of our job is to defuse ugly situations...

ugly situations just like this one, actually.

Please, calm down, and explain precicely what the problem is...

--SmartGamer (ACE)

Actually, rereading the page, I see the problem.

Sheesh.

Ouch, umm... Towelmaster? This isn't really the attitude we like to see.

Defusing situations is fine, but only defusing them takes just as much time as being nice...

Oh well, maybe I should have stayed out of this!

--SmartGamer (ACE)

And yes, this WAS the right place to post. Sorry, in the email I got, it linked to the forum, and not the page, so I just looked at the title and didn't really read it...



--SmartGamer

Oh, whatever. I just think everyone should back off.

*blinks*

Moderated? Gosh.

Hi Colonel Sellers.

We'd like to clarify a few points about the Aces' role on h2g2.

You said (to TowelMaster): "Your page says that you have specifically de-volunteered yourself from the tasks listed. It makes me wonder why you have the badge at all."

It might be helpful for you to read the "What do the Aces do?" page at http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A537725 as it answers most of the points you've brought up here. On that page it says:

"It's worth noting at the outset that being an Ace does not tie you down to any specific obligations - that would go against the whole nature of h2g2. We just hope that you like the site enough to help out in your spare time, and we don't mind how much or how little you do."

We're happy for Aces to greet as much or as little as they choose; indeed, they're under no obligation to greet people at all. Some people choose to exclusively greet newbies, others choose to act as guides to those already on site, whilst some prefer a diplomatic role. It's up to each individual Ace to choose their own preferred focus.

You also said: "Nowhere on the Ace pages does it even *begin* to discuss problem resolution. You're making up a role that doesn't exist. You're acting as a self-selected Arbiter."

Again you might like to refer to the "What do the Aces do?" page. It says:

"The Aces are the upstanding members of h2g2. They are always available to provide a polite and friendly helping hand. They greet newbies and help them get to grips with the sometimes overwhelming h2g2 experience. They try to calm down heated discussions with a few well-chosen words. They're the sort of people that you'd like to meet in real life, and they do it by embodying the values of h2g2 that we all hold dear."

So TowelMaster isn't making up a job role that doesn't exist; Aces are, and always have been, encouraged to "calm down heated discussions with a few well-chosen words". TowelMaster isn't acting as a self-selected Arbiter, he's an Ace, and he's therefore doing the job for which he volunteered.

Considering that none of the words were well-chosen, and served to exacerbate the situation rather than calm anyone down, I have to wonder how suitable his approach has been. This page declares that he will do so in a rude manner, if the person he wishes to speak to is rude. How is that being an "upstanding member of the community"? How is that likely to "calm down heated discussions"?

He is just as free to be rude as anyone else. However, doing so while waving an ACE badge is in incredibly bad taste... when he does so, he is representing the whole community, as well as yourselves. That he chooses not to defend himself tells me that there is no defense. That you choose to defend this behavior only frightens me. Are the volunteers held to a higher standard, as stated, or are they permitted to get away with more, because of their elite status?

"That you choose to defend this behavior only frightens me."

That's not what we were doing, Colonel. We simply pointed out that the Aces' role *does* include some of the things that you claimed were not, such as "problem resolution" - nothing more. It's important to get the facts straight, especially when the discussion is potentially heated!

SmartGamer had already corrected me on that score.

I just want to say that I have no specific agenda against Towelmaster. This conversation started when I mentioned bad behavior on the part of some Aces in the LeKZ episode. Some have already acknowledged and apologized to her. He felt that I was talking about him personally, and defended himself. I would never have singled anyone out. He made this conversation personal when he attempted to justify the things he'd said.

This is not the first time I've seen such behavior under cover of an Ace badge. It was exactly this type of behavior that caused me to relinquish mine. It just so happened that, as my discontent with that group had nearly reached its limit, the Scouts started up, giving me another outlet to contribute.

Nowadays, I wonder why I bother to contribute at all.