Seems a lot of bureaucratic decision have been made at the whim of a loud minority, just like to see a yes or a no to the topic title.

ED, no need to voice an opinion, just a silent vote. but if you wish to voice an opinion, by all means feel free.

"BUREAUCRACY" is not the correct word IMO. But yes, I think that many of last decisions have been taken by pressure of loud members. So - vote 'yes', but dont think that it is a "BUREAUCRACY".

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bureaucracy

well if I want to keep this poll in view, must keep posting.

There should be a Proverb about the Damage that " Wishful Thinking " Does, but I am not Aware of Any !!!
We all wish that the situation would be Nice and Cosy and Cheerful, and remain Quiet in the Face of blatant Favouritism, in the Wishful Hope that we are perhaps not in Full Knowledge of All the Salient Factors, and If we Voice Disapproval it will Only make matters worse !!
Instead, maybe we send Private Messages and gain inner satisfaction from receiving pacifying reassurances !!
The Truth is that Nothing Changes and the Dedicated Disrupters return again and again, securely Protected from Normal Consequences by a Code of Silence, which, in Essence Only serves to Diminish the Credibility of those Tasked to Keep a Middle Path !!
Bureaucracy or whatever name is applied is OK ,IF,it applies Equally to ALL, and moreso, is SEEN so to do !!
Personally, I am Just Pissed Off !!!

@the victim/s or the "peacekeepers"?
ed, or the agitators?

The Situation as Described Above !!!

@deekayd,

To what are you referring???

decisions made in this forum or the world at large?

If the former, please be more specific, its hard wo work out a specific answer to a none specific question (and of course I do have a vested interest).

If the later, boy have you opened a can of worm, the level of bureauchy varies greaty in each country, let alone places like the United Nations, where all they seem to do is talk and debate abstract policies without actually doing anything.

There is a Subtle Irony in the Ether !!!

@Cartref, I thought it was obvious with what is happing to my beloved VGHD. If you feel you must deal with me also, then do feel free.

Ok, I will be a little more precise, if you can't work it out, I am sorry but I can't help you more than that.
Certain issues have arisen against Alerte, and the in depth elements, only a few are privy to, BUT, when a certain other member of VGHD, does more vile and slanderous comments and actions and goes unrewarded, then it seems obvious a select few are pulling more than a few strings, and influencing more than they should.

@Theo, in comment to the comment you made on the closed topic, I believe the French, have very many members, as for the other nationalities, I could not tell, I have my forum open to all the available languages, and the French do post quite a few postings/topics. So would it not make sense to have a representative who is French and is RESPECTED by the majority of the French members, respect goes a very long way in keeping the peace!

Won't it come to an end ? Deekayad, I hope you're not searching some kind of stress.

First of all, it's not up to me or any other Moderator to decide if the whole community needs a French Moderator or not. It is Totem's decision. If so, no one of us will have a problem with it.
But I don't think that it is the main reason here. I think the main reason is that a handfull of members had solidarize with a special member. So if you ask me about this, my guess is that Totem won't to be blackmailed to put the fox in charge of the henhouse.
I'm sorry but I can't respect someone who raises his own poll to become a moderator.

Secondly - the Team and company is french. Website, software and support is available in french. No trouble on this front - like for thousends of users from other countries.

And last but not least, we're living in an global world. We have to accecpt that the international standard is english. Buisness, Internet etc. And believe me, ....

...I know what I'm talking about. I do my buisness all over the world.
Each european guy between 10 and 45 years old had english as first foreign language in school. For sure there are exceptions like my fellow countryman from the east side before the wall came down. But how you said, we're talking about majorty here. And at least the majority is able to understand some words in english.

With Respect CyberVixen, I Rest my Case !!!....Wishful Thinking wins the Day, yet Again, and the Main Issue ( Not alerte,per se )Evaporates !!!

Well i'm here for over a year now and as far as i can tell noone has become a mod in that time though one mod quit.
I'm not for alerte to become a mod. I like him, he was always helpful but his english is just not good enough.
But what i wanted to say noone except the mods knows how to become one.
And as one mod did quit i would have thought we get a new one to replace him.
I mean as long as kidcadet doesn't become the new mod i guess it would be ok.
So thats why i can understand why alerte made a poll because he probably also doesn't know what to do to become a mod.
About his recent ban i gave my opinion already. I don't want to argue anymore about that. I just hope its the last time someone gets suspended who to my knowledge did neither post nude pics nor insult someone in the last weeks.

Two little stories here, not that I am taking sides with any one but just stating what I personally think.

I had two grand kids visiting me. I was upstairs and they were in the living room watching TV when I went up. Shortly I heard glass breaking, I came downstairs and a window was broken. Of course neither of them knew what happened. THEY BOTH GOT EQUAL PUNISHMENT !!
I handled it this way because I did not see what happened and even though one of them was a favorite of mine, I punished them both equally.

Another:
A friend and myself were walking down the street here and a guy came out of a blind alley by a store we were walking to with a knife in his hand yelling something about wanting our money. The friend quickly grabbed the guy's arm that was holding the knife and whacked it across the fence, in the process, breaking the guy's arm. The cops came and low and behold, they locked my friend up and let the attacker go free.
justice ??? where ???


Edit: you are wrong Starry, I became a mod after the one in question quit. I have not been here for some time due to problems beyond my control but rest assured, I will be back up to par soon.

Respect !!!

I like alerte but he caused alot of chaos in between his fun and helpfulness. being a fanboy of virtuagirl does not grant you more rights or leadway than any other member. You choose your level of participation in this community. 99% choose to just use the software and not the forum. Money is money. A member spending $20 per week and never posting is a valued customer same as us here.

Being a moderator is more than being a fanboy of the community.
Moderating isn't just following people around waiting for them to ***** rules and being the vghd police--it is being able to communicate clearly with membes in a respectful manner when there is an issue and get it resolved with minimun disruption to the forum flow. You also represent yourself and the forum well and do not spam the forum nor get into personal arguments where you create topics to fight with someone and get other people as an audience to it.

The mods here do an excellent job. It is a thankless job.

On the other side of the managment coin it leaves a bad taste in my mouth when changes are made based on the voice of a few.
The loud minority dictating virtuagirl and the 99% majority dealing with their vision and changes because of their complaints or ideals.

Well the problem about majority and minority is that we don't know how many the majority is. We can witness day by day that not all new users are really new(Some names and avatars turn up again and again) we don't know how many active users VGHD really has.
When i joined approximately 1 year ago, there was a special celebration of the 3rd million user here.
But i guess that of this 3 million around 10% at max were active users.
The only way for Totem to find out what the majority wants would be to make a poll in the software so everyone who opens VGHD to watch a show/trailer gets a pop-up that asks him/her about the personal opinion about the software and what should be changed.
That would be the only way to get to know what the majority wants.

There are over 8 million users here. I doubt that 800,000 of them are active. Probably 1 in 20 people that download the software become active- the other 19 delete it or just push it aside.
5% tops.
Anyone can download the software and become a user. If 1 of 20 people you give free software too become active is a win. Of the 5% probably only 10% of those purchase cards. That means 40,000 users have bought at least 1 card.
10% of those members buy monthly or 30+ cards which is 4,000, and 10% of those people participate on the forum which is 400 members. 20% of forum are die-hards and keep forum hopping which is 80 to 100 people.
A solid core.

All this ugly business seems to me more a problem of communication than anything else. I think the mods put it very clear the reasons for Alerte's ***** vacation. Alerte himself recognized he didn't acted properly and he apologized a lot. He was punished anyway. He didn't like it, some also didn't, but his behaviour was disruptive and he exceeded the faculties of a regular user, even if he meant well. Ok.

On the other hand, the antagonist of this history, rightfully offended by the before mentioned behaviour, gladly became then the agitator gloating openly about the decision and causing not less disturbance in the forums, (this thread the latest sample), and publicly went into a colorful war of epithets in the closed thread. He walked only with a warning. So, where's the line? How many ***** are too many? When too much time discussing something is too much? If the mods don't explain clearly their reasons it's only natural that questions about favoritism and inequity arise.

I'm not taking sides. The issue is in plain sight. Once an issue leaks into the forums, it should be adressed in the forums, IMHO, so no dark spots generate even more controversy.

I do read the french posts. Not too long ago, TotemRex himself banned an user for insulting remarks. The starting controversy among the users ended quicky when TotemRex showed again to bluntly clarify the reason of the banishment. There was a lot of discussion after this about freedom of speach and solidarity, but not too much about "fairness" and the peace came swiftly.

I, for one, think the mods here do a very good job overall and gives a lot of, excuse the phrase, "rope to hang ourselves". Better communication about boundaries and more oportune warnings could prevent a lot of further disturbance.

Just my 2 cents. ;)

i agree with Theo alerte is often helpful but this is Not his forum.if he doesnt get his way he becomes very disruptive like a 2 year old *****.I dont know what he said to kidcadet but i had to block him from my pm long ago just to shut him up.and by the way its Alerte's fan club who are the loud minority

"BUREAUCRACY---HAS IT GOTTEN HEAVY HANDED?"... Can I vote... probably not but either way a resounding "I don't care... at all." Not a little bit. Just enjoy the product... VGHD isn't a side gov't and we are not here to start a revolution. Enjoy the product and talk to friends and have fun... or don't... I just don't care.

Being banned from the site for 2-weeks is not earth shattering and unfair. It is just giving you 2 weeks to calm down, collect your thought, and take a break from here since most likely you are taking it too seriously and personal or reacting to things you do not agree with like a *****.

Any member that posts here several times daily probably needs a voluntary break here and there anyways. Take a step back from the forum and just enjoy the girls performing on your desktop.

Dear Mr. Deekard;

"BUREAUCRACY---HAS IT GOTTEN HEAVY HANDED?

Exactly who do you think you are talking to?
I would personally like to call this rhetoric a gutless feeble attempt at...?
But then I would have to ask myself "at what" at what are you aiming?
Do you really want answers to this 'question'? or are you looking for a
subtle way to "stir the *****?"
No matter. It is apparent you've brought a knife to a gunfight.
So, as I continue to ponder your words with the greatest of sincerity I will
give you one to ponder, cognoscente of course, that your stated profession
may have indeed affected your senses to the point that now, shall we say,
to you, "all the trees look alike."



Psychopathy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Not to be ***** with Psychosis.
Psychopathy (pronounced /saɪˈkɒpəθi) is a personality disorder whose hallmark
is a lack of empathy. Robert Hare, a researcher in the field describes psychopaths
as "intraspecies predators who use charm, *****, intimidation, sex and
violence to control others and to satisfy their own selfish needs. Lacking in
conscience and empathy, they take what they want and do as they please,
violating social norms and expectations without guilt or remorse".
"What is missing, in other words, are the very qualities that allow a human being
to live in social harmony."

Psychopaths are glib and superficially charming, and many psychopaths are
excellent mimics of normal human emotion; some psychopaths can blend in,
undetected, in a variety of surroundings, including corporate environments.
There is neither a cure nor any effective treatment for psychopathy; there are
no medications or other techniques which can instill empathy, and psychopaths
who undergo traditional talk therapy only become more adept at manipulating others.
The consensus among researchers is that psychopathy stems from a specific
neurological disorder which is biological in origin and present from birth.
It is estimated that one percent of the general population are psychopaths.

Until they start unearthing the bodies . . . holy cow !!!

!!??!!