Perhaps this might be what gets me silenced, perhaps this post will be deleted rather quickly. I rather expect both.
I have been a member of this site for many years. I have taught and bonded with many members. I have even lead a coven and been council to many others as well. I have been in the craft for over 14 years. I have been ranked down to Fluff for speaking my mind however. I think it is rather funny that I get spit on for having a logical conversation with other members in the chatter. I have seen this happen to many of the members with knowledge. It would seem that more of the knowledgeable members are ranked fluff then those who believe that they are vampires or mermaids. It rather breaks my heart.
And I have to say, there is no denying what you said.
Wheter I will be gagged for this or not, I don't know. But I do know that this site is Corrupt it is full of Fluffies who get away with everything, leaving the Knowledgebles to take the blame.
Last night a guy Told a moderator 'f u' in an hours time the same person came back, and started on about Hecate and cursing and all this.
I often see it as when the fluffs really get annoying there are NO mods, but when a knowledgeable is explaining or giving out, they instantly. Get demoted.
Aurora love I have sadly seen what you mean. I was once gagged for going off on a fluff who cussed me out rather badly for talking about how physical werewolves dont exist. I was gagged, the other member who did all the cussing got to stay.
This thread was not made to have members fighting. I was expressing a feeling, a sadness. Please dont call each other names here. If your opinion is about a certain member please take your words else where.
To me you will always be the lovely and extremely knowledgeable person that I've met through this website. And I will value you, irrespective of what your rank on this website says.
You have every right to be miffed. I would be too, if I were in your place
I admit, the many of the knowledgeable members who ranked me up are now fluff. I don't know rightly why, I only know I can't rank them higher than fluff, and when I have, they don't stay higher for long.
I'm actually rather confused by all this, but I want to be clear that when I rank a fluff, I rank them based on intelligence shown.
Not all the people who are knowledgeable let it go to their heads, and not all of us rank unfairly. I admit, when someone starts to act like a fool, I'll rank them as fluffy, but if they show knowledge later, I'll re-rank them gladly. If I know it's someone who's honestly mislead, I'll even tell them what I ranked them as and why. I don't want to use my rank to bring people down; I want to use it to lift them up. I want to encourage people to look at reality, to think rationally.
I want to use the rankings to help people out, and that's what I try to do. I've been a member of this site long enough to love it, despite its flaws, and to try to make those flaws disappear, or at least lessen.
All of this is just me, my experience, and my opinion. I've been in all the rankings before at one point or another, and it's given me a certain sense of the necessity of the system, or rather the usefulness of it. The rankings I disagree with I try to change, and no, not all of my attempts at changing work, because I tend to rank alone (without asking others to help me change a rank).
I'm sorry this happened to you Bane, and keeps happening. I don't know why it does, but I'm hoping it will sort itself, and that those former knowledgeable members don't leave here due to this ranking weirdness. I love you guys a lot, and I hate seeing the frustrations and sadness over this.
And, if I am going to lose my ranking for this, that's fine by me. I'm well known as the resident Kemetic practitioner, and my ranking won't change that, just like your ranking won't change your reputation to those who know you.
I just hope that all this stuff doesn't discourage anyone, or make them want to leave the site. It's just sad all around.
I actually. Had an incident in the chatter quite recently, I was stating about how I Personally Believe in Telekinesis, and not naming names. I was told to
"get common sense, then learn Magick, and stop insulting the serious practitioners around here"
This deeply upset me, because I did not delve in-depth into why I believe in this, or anything else I just simply stated that i believed in it.
We were discussing Fluffy spells and I agree the person named out all of them correctly, and when s/he said kinesis, I just stated I believed in it, and I was made a laughing stock.
I believed that learning and considering other beliefs was a main aspect of the chatter?
I never agreed with the implimantation of the ranking system. As with many concepts, it works well on paper, however in actual practice their is a great amount of room for errors. The fact of the matter is, with how the ranking system is currently set up, it is about as possible of becoming a vampire, as it is for the ranking system to be used as intended. Thier are simply to great a number of members, and too great a number of rules, for the ranking system to be utalised effectivly. Members with lesser known practices go unnoticed, while members with popular practices and a vast amount of knowledge are ranked lower for having bad relations with the "knowledgable" people. Not to mention the numerous other problems caused by this system. If their is any doubt of what I'm saying is true, just look for yourselves at the covens page. We have "begginers" and "fluffies" as our coven leadership. If thier ranking is true, then their is either a problem with the accuracy and implimentation of the system as I mentioned, or we are allowing members with little to no knowledge lead our covens. Either way we look at it, we have a monumental problem on our hands.
As it is typical of me, I will offer a breif solution. Other pagan sites I am a meber of utalise a ranking system based on activity. The more high rated spells, articles, forum contributions, and votes from members you recive, the greater your ranking is. It works much more effiectivly as the control is in the power of the person themself (as they need to make contributions to be ranked), rather than in a handful of people.
It deeply sadens me Bane to hear this. However I am sure most members here realize what ranking you deserve. If I had any control over the matter you would of been ranked an Adept long ago.
