Four forum moderators, four chat, seven clan chat mods (their seniority on RV's site is debatable as the same as Staff, though), three administrators... and more mods than active villagers.
Oh god, we're screwed.

Trust me, the issue of the number of people in any seat of power vs. the number of normal villagers has been dealt with the best we really can.

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Goten is dead!

And I completely understand that there is no way to remove moderator titles, only if the mod has been inactive for several months! But it also brings along the problem of us members who wish to maybe become moderators one day aren't able to, because there already are >9000 of you

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I'm awesome

Meh, those ambitions were never really healty I think.

Sorry for being MIA the last week, school started back up for me.

Anyway, unfortunately my donations were made longer than 45 days ago, so I don't stand a chance at getting them back.

Does anyone know if Henner transferred the site ownership to someone else? If not, we should really deal with that problem next.

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Awesome sig made by Goten!

As far as i know, everything has been figured out - it just takes time and a little patience to let things happen.

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and this is me testing fun stuff.

Honestly I can't see RV ever having a need for moderators again. As kiaba said, the only thing the moderators have had to do around here for the past ~year+ is disapprove and ban spambots. That's something the admins could do, or even just one active mod.

And trust me, back when mods were actually needed, you didn't want to be one. It's a gig.

If we convert to a wordpress homepage we 'might' need moderators again for approving comments etc depending if I can link forums to front page o.-;

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and this is me testing fun stuff.

Akismet would be able to handle that for you flawlessly.

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.

.Legendary themed months are back! Maybe.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh the arguments over whether or not someone deserved a step, warning, etc. Gah! Nightmares man.......nightmares.

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PM and send me a message on AIM if you have any problems on RV.
Contact me if you have any aquarium related questions, fresh or salt. Also looking for freshwater shrimp at all times. Whether you are in the US or elsewhere. Thanks!

Almost every discussion was the same. One person empathetic, one person raging, usually someone saying "Why are you getting so mad? Anger doesn't help the discussion" (primarily Quan), one guy (usually you, Burks) reminding us we're looking after a forum, not policing the 'net. And a decision made very much later than it should've.
Good times. Nightmare worthy good times.

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Goten is dead!

Much like the current situation. A vicious cycle we've developed here.

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and this is me testing fun stuff.

The cycle is about to be broken.

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PM and send me a message on AIM if you have any problems on RV.
Contact me if you have any aquarium related questions, fresh or salt. Also looking for freshwater shrimp at all times. Whether you are in the US or elsewhere. Thanks!

Horray!

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I'm glad to hear this. It's about time RuneVillage entires a new era. We've been stuck in the bronze age for the last decade.

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and this is me testing fun stuff.

Well, since bronze ages tend to last for centuries or millennia I'd say we're doing quite well.

Not necessarily. If you take the fact this is a gaming community and therefore the status of being in the bronze age can be considered equivalent to an era in the time-based gaming world; we should have been late-modern age years ago.

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and this is me testing fun stuff.

Hi again.

No update on Henner. I've given up trying to contact him, and I think most everyone else has as well. I can't think of any more methods to get him to speak to me, short of waterboarding him. I still encourage you guys to try to get your donations back by filing a claim with PayPal. It's worked for a few people now, so that's good stuff.

Let's put that in the past for now, because I have a more important discussion to bring to the table. Please hear me out, and please post your thoughts on what I'm about to say.

Right now we're approaching a window of opportunity to revitalize this site. It is something that I am personally taking an initiative in moving us towards, but there are some very fundamental changes I wish to make before we see some of the more visible changes. That, for me, takes priority over everything else on this site.

Let's turn the clock back to last year. You may recall that I had stepped down from my administration rank. That resignation period lasted for a whole five weeks. I never planned on coming back, but quite a few unpredictable things had transpired in that short amount of time. In those five weeks, the incident with Hiker and Jagex unfolded, Hiker stepped down from leadership, and Henner was eventually made the owner of the site. We became a "gaming fansite", and, well, you can look for yourself to see how well that's turning out.

Now this is where it gets tricky. I don't know about you guys, but it was my understanding that following the change in leadership, we had moved to a different hosting service. Well, that never happened. Right now, we are still with TheVillageHost, which is a company that is owned and operated by Hiker. This is something that I learned only very recently, during Henner's absence. It came as a surprise to me.

Now, I've generally been in the "neutral" range of the spectrum regarding Hiker's past, maybe even leaning towards the "forgiveness" end, but that does not dictate the measures that I wish to take right now.

RuneVillage is in the poor state it is right now, not because RuneScape is falling in popularity, not because of the 2007 wilderness and trade updates, not because of Jagex, not because of misbehaving users, and certainly not because of our so-called "cliquey" nature. Most of these are problems that every fansite deals with, so what is really the problem? We are in the state we're in right now because, time and time again, we have found ourselves under a dark cloud of instability, poor leadership, and uncertainty.

Given our fragility, I think it is necessary that we take this time to analyze things, and make some important decisions to help us maintain a future of smooth sailing. Specifically, clearing the environment of uncertainties. What I mean is, although I have no personal issues against Hiker, I strongly believe that remaining with his hosting company is an unnecessary risk to which we should not subject ourselves. There are plenty of other options out there, with good prices, arrangements, and options.

Believe me, we are one shitstorm away from passing the event-horizon and losing all hope of saving this site. So even if there is only a 1% chance of this arrangement resulting in a negative situation in the future, it is not a chance that we should take. I have a plan that could work, and I know that there are plenty of you out there who do as well and who really and truly wish to help this site, but maybe you don't know where to start, or you're concerned about the stability of the site and how that may negate your efforts. I have some similar concerns as well. In my case, I want to free us of any potential problems before we put forth the effort required to revitalize the site. I'm simply too anxious of a person to want to begin such a large project when there still remains this potential hindrance. I've seen this site go through too many problems to just sit around and hope that this arrangement with Hiker won't impact us negatively in the future, in whatever way, shape or form.

Once again, this is not an attempt to personally attack Hiker, but it is one measure which I think is necessary to take in order to further assure us of a future without misfortune. Right now I am trying to put the village first, and trying to consider what is best for our village and our future. I was recently told by a fellow villager that, without the support of the entire community and staff, there would be no RV. So let me hear your thoughts on this matter.

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Given we're a small community without much to worry about size wise, I say let's go for it. Being under TheVillageHost in specific may not be hurting us, but it is another tie I'd like to see cut.

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Goten is dead!

I believe that every person on this website knows how I feel about hiker. I will even publicize that upon his lurking and sometimes posting he had PM'ed me and asked me what exactly my problem was, and had told me that if he could help set my mind at ease at all he would do so. I PM'ed him back with some questions, and he never got back to me. This only added to the image of him that had manifested in my mind. In short, I am somewhat appalled that we are still using his hosting service, when I am near certain that details suggesting the complete opposite were presented to us. It just seems like a huge conspiracy. I can't say we've gotten garbage service; it's been passable, but the drama and nonsense with hiker has brought nothing but trouble so the thought of carrying on with his service and funding such a man just gives me the willies.

But this is not a demonization of hiker. We are trying to move forward, and I am 100% on board with this. I will state officially that I trust your judgment, Jack, as well as that of Burks and Glodenox. However, I used to trust the judgment of Henner as well...his snubbing has come as a surprise to me, but I don't know him as well as some. Perhaps someone should have seen this coming, but everyone else seems just as surprised as me.

Now to the official part: I am a man in flux right now; I hope to attend graduate school but that won't be possible until next year. I am stuck now working part time at Walmart until next fall (or somewhere else if I find a suitable alternative). This should translate to some more free time on my part. Some of you might have seen my most recent post in the Scribery. This was obviously partially a test, but it was also a post out of sadness for the state of that particular forum. I am a man of words, a man of literature. I will gladly create content for this site, but *only after* it has been purged of negativity, as Jack has said. I will continue to lead the RVET because that was a responsibility placed on me by several members of high repute, and frankly at this point it doesn't require much work. But I will not write for this site again until I feel my efforts see some sort of return. It's basic economics. If that seems cold to you, then I apologize, but that's how I feel. I sometimes feel depressed just working for the RVET, I cannot imagine putting in the work that some other members here have only to see this sort of outcome. It would crush me. The fact that it hasn't crushed them should speak to their character.

I like to write. I like to edit. I like to critique. And *when* we decide what we're going to do, I will be at the helm of a new movement if the administration will have me. But until then, I'll be your friendly neighborhood RVET representative. Make sure to sign up for the upcoming global mafia game@!@!@!@!!!!

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Awesome Squall sprite courtesy of Goten! Check here if you'd like a runescape or game-themed sprite!

I feel that if we cut our ties to anything Hiker related, no offense to Hiker, it would help our situation!

The other day in Runescape I asked a person if he'd fancy joining RuneVillage, and he said no, because "I don't like pedophiles"

THAT is a main problem, and we're well on our way to solving it.

I think that cutting the ties is only a natural process of the cleaning RV needs done, and I fully support finding other hosts

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I'm awesome