A Question of Answers

[SuperMIC]

I feel this would be equally as great in the Serious Discussion forum. But all matters aside, I'll try to be as mature as possible.

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Power. It's a beautiful word. It makes me jumpy at the sound of it. With power, you have control, and with control, the possibilities are limitless. I wonder. Does it please any Mod to know that any topic they don't like can be destroyed with a simple click of a button, "lock?" I might be a little mean to the Mods now... but take this for example.

There was a story here, that, yes, sucked horribly... it was a giant block of text, with smilies, that was so completely grammatically failing it was embarassing. And obviously, what did the Mods do? Lock it. Destroy it. Let it burn. I don't argue with this claim, but, Mod, wasn't one of your topics in the Serious Discussion forum titled, "Discrimination is two-wayed?"

When closing that topic, did any of you feel regret for that user... that had obviously spent his time writing away, and was clearly proud of it... only to have it locked, destroyed, buried? That user most likely will harbour hate... but getting back to the topic of power.

Power blinds. Definitely.

A normal user browsing that story may have said, "Er, I don't think this is a very good story... even though it looks like you put effort into it, I suggest that you add paragraphs, and maybe run it through a spell-checker. You could work on plot and character development as well. Remove the smilies too, please."

But, I ask the staff directly now, what can you do? You could not only shun this poor user for what he/she has done, for creating this piece of trash, that you are tired of in this section, but you could also lock the topic and let it sink into the bottom of the pile of stories.

However, isn't that the Mods' job? To clear this forum of completely crappy and spammy levels/stories?

I'm thinking about your topic now Blab. If you're a Mod... any kind, be it Lemon, Story Mod, or Glomo... you want to cleanse this realm of Runouw of anything that taints it and destroys its reputation right? Yet all the while the authors of the levels and stories... they were, as Blab said... having "fun." And, maybe, they took offense at the fact their level was taken down because they put so much effort into loading the level with Bob-bombs...

But you said that power destroyed your childhood. That may be correct, as you are very, very mature... but is that a good thing or bad thing? Is it a good thing that you have a head-start on the real world? So you can start making money at a younger age and understand what a girl really wants so you can get one yourself. Or do you feel that your childhood was destroyed, the capacity for you to have "fun" limited and completely lost?

It depends on opinion. For me? I think that my opinion goes in the fact that I want power. For more than one reason. I want power so I can use it to make these forums a better place, probably as you guys do. I want it SO I can mature, and get out of this life of dealing with immature people. Even if I may hurt people along the way... that is the road to power. The road to power requires sacrifices. Sacrifices, sacrifices. That is where I stand.

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Hoo, that could be a chapter for my story in itself...

I hope... I didn't offend anyone.

-SuperMIC

[Ridder]

I was like "Blablob? Being srs? Philosophical? Whut?"

Blablob: > WRITE A PHILOSOPHICAL STORY.
Ridder: The people love your story, even the bandits! But they still shoot you in the face. Blablob Dies. Game Over.

[JSlayerXero]

This is why I don't care about being mod. Being level mod, maybe. As a user, I barely look at a tenth of the active topics on this forum. At level designing, I'm sure I can outdo all of you guys if I tried, but I'm pressed for time because of real life. Even then, so what? Frankly, it's not that I don't care about being lemon, as I do have this small urge to be one. But for me, it's like this: "Don't care if I am one, don't care if I'm not one. If I'm a lemon, cool, if I'm not, so what?"

I had this "join user group" set to lemon for awhile just for heck's sake. But frankly, I do a lot of things for reasons no one else would do them for. Heck, just today I opened a can of corn chips. Not to actually eat the chips, I opened it just to open it. I ate some of the chips later, but when I opened the can, I had no intention of actually eating any of it.

Even if I am lemon, and I do kill spam levels, so? I'm lemon, big deal. Face it, just because I'm promoted doesn't make me any more powerful than you guys. I can do some things you don't appear to be able to do. But you can actually do it, indirectly. You guys can always ask, and thus-wise, your doing it indirectly. If I were mod, lemon, etc. I can do it directly, but you guys can still do it indirectly by asking. My point it, while some users appear to be able to do more, and have more power, the reality is, you guys can do some of the same things, you just do it indirectly. As such, YOU'RE the one really doing it, whether it appears that way or not.

The only thing mods really have over regular users is the ability to veto. We can ask to lock, unlock, ban, un-ban, we just have to ask a mod. Locking we can do circumstantially anyways. Mods can do it without the need to ask. So in essence, the only thing they have is the ability to veto our requests. I'm not eager to be lemon. But if I was, would it REALLY make a difference? I'll stick with being a normal user for now. 'Cause really, is being able to veto that big of an accomplishment? To some degree, yes. But really, I don't need to be mod to veto some of the things you guys say. Frankly, I don't see the mods being more powerful, I just see them as regular people, that can ban and lock on a whim.

Power is a tool, just like most other things. Knives can kill, but they can also be used practically. Same thing with scissors, guns, and many more. Do you really think America would've won the Revolutionary War without the help of gun or several? And not to mention the bigger guns. (cannons) Guns are also useful for killing animals, and in some situations, they may be the only way to do so. Whether there's a good reason behind the killing of said animal, a gun is a very useable way of killing one. But even then, guns can be used to disable without killing. If you shoot a guy in the leg, it'll give him a hard time running. Frankly, tools are not evil, power is a tool, just like money and many other things. Tools are great when used properly, but misuse can easily corrupt people. Kind of like a save file. If you don't turn off the system during saving, you don't loose your progress. And even then, the slightest error may be enough to corrupt the entire file. Heck, a virus, computer or viral, no matter how small, it has the potential to ruin.

Ah great, now I want to write a story where I become lemon just for laughs sake.

[Avo]

This....has truly taught me what power is.

Power can have mean many different things, but in a way, it's scary.

People can use power responsibly, or use for their own personal gain. And that's something scarier than lions, snakes, or anything that people can be scared of.

It all depends on the user.

And modship, I truly realize what this could mean. Sure, there are many users on here that strive to become a mod. But a lot of them don't even take the time and think...

''Would I really deserve this? Would I be able to handle what might follow if I become a mod? Would I use modship to truly help users and try to make the site better, or just use it as a tool of power and brag to people?''

After reading this, my mod dreams still live strong. I don't want to become a mod just to help people and make the site the best it can be, but I also want it to better myself so I can step away from other people's immaturity and to destroy my own immaturity.

I wake up every day and tell myself, I was born in the wrong decade.

Today, I'm surrounded by typical teenagers, mainstream lovers, shooter enthusiasts. You name it. Average teenage boy? Call of Duty, immature, don't look at relationships the right way. By that I mean, they would just want to be with a girl to impress someone, maybe their friends, or to impress another girl. You would always hear things like ''She's got a nice ♥♥♥.'' Or: ''Her breasts are huge.'' (Pardon me) And that's a typical teenage boy. They simply don't care and will be immature for the sake of being immature. Fart jokes, swear words, anything. It sickens me.

Typical teenage girl? Likes Justin Bieber, doesn't like games, and also doesn't look at relationships the right way. They won't take the time to get to know a guy and his personality. If they think that a guy is ''cute'', or ''sexy'', or ''fine'', they're sold. They don't stop and think that he might be a total douchebag. A girl can dislike a guy based on his looks, too much acne, overweight, messed up hair, braces. And that's what they do. I don't know why. If you find someone that will actually take the time to examine someone's personality and other things, don't let that person go.

I'm not saying all teenagers are like this, it's just, majority of the people I've seen are exactly like that.

Me? I like a different style of music, play different games from other people, and will be smart about relationships. Nice, smart, funny, fun to be around, that's what I take the time to think about. I don't say: ''Wow, that girl is sexy, I'm asking her out.'' It disgusts me seeing this amount of typical teenagers. If I see someone like that, I don't even bother, I won't bother with trying to change their opinion. They will do what they like. But what disgusts me more, girls actually like guys that do what I mentioned above and vice versa.

I always think, I was born too late. I don't want to become like my peers, my sanity couldn't handle it.

But, I still think I could be better. By hanging around those kinds of people, my mind adjusts slowly to their lifestyle. I want to be a nice and mature kind of guy. But hanging around typical teenagers is taking that dream away from me.

And then I come on here, it's like my dream come true. The people here are mature, nice, fun to be around and sure are funny but in a mature way (most of the time).

And then I feel like I belong at my age. I can accept that I was born in the 90's and not the 80's or 70's.

But then I go back to hanging around typical teenagers, and I always think I'm a 24 year-old trapped in a 14 year old body. I don't choose to have these thoughts, they just come naturally and I can't control it.

That's why I feel a Mod position would get me closer to my dream, to accept my age and the people I hang around with, to not think that 1997 was the wrong year to be born in. I'll feel like I belong.

And my Mod dream keeps strong even today. Even after reading that, Blab. That was truly a magnificent piece of work. I applaud you, sir. Thank you opening my eyes and realizing the risks that Modship might bring.

It could change someone for better or for worse.

[Asterocrat]

Hey Suyo. You need to add the Thumbs Up button in the Stories forum. I have some posts to Thumb Up.

Personally, I never really dreamed of true power until then. Yes. While some are just disgusted from being a Moderator after reading this, I had the opposite effect. I never wanted, so far, of being a Moderator, it seems like I wasn't able to be one. What I wanted is to have fun, post a comic, post a level, all I wanted is being a Level Moderator, to test levels, delete them if needed, and create LDCs. Just help the site.

Why I do want to be Level Mod? Not to be more powerful, hell no. To have more fun. To delete levels, comment, being more ACTIVE (and for the Username color too). I do not want power. I don not want to be more powerful.

Now I have the impression this story just druged me. I don't know why, or how, but this story didn't scared me that much. Maybe because I know I couldn't misuse power? I don't know. Should I be a good Moderator? I don't know. I think I requested, a long time ago, to be one.

Maybe that's not power I'm after. I mean... It is NOT after power I'm after, but GLORY, FUN and FRIENDSHIP. Ah! I see no-one spoke of that so far. Glory. A nice word. Maybe that's why. That's why I want to participate in LDCs, though sometimes I'm hating it. That's why I want to be Level Moderator, I think. Not to say to people: "HEY LOOK! I can warn you and delete your levels!" but to say: "HEY LOOK! My username is in blue, I'm a Level Moderator!" And fun. Nice word too. Because I'm sure what a Level Moderator do is fun. Moderate levels, create LDCs, delete spam? What could be better? Friendship? This sounds nice too. To help people. Too help users. That's what I'm looking for.

Maybe that's why this story didn't scare me. Because it's about power. Maybe that's why I want to be a Mod, even a Global one, now, because I do not fear power, nor the misuse of power. I do not want power. I want glory, fun and frienship. That's why.

In fact, it is not the story that scare me the most, but the comments. So many people fearing power... I don't understand their problem... I'm feeling a bit strange, now, like... I'm cold... Oh wait, that's the window which is open next to me. My bad. Anyway, back to seriousness, I don't know what to think. I feel like I'm... different from other people. Like if we wasn't the same... Everyone post almost the same comment, about how they fear power... Not me...

Would I be a good Moderator? Can people trust me? Or maybe am I like Blablob, an innocent person, that will receive power and will fear it?

I don't know. For now.

That's why I'm so ineterseted in medals, LDCs, level collabs, or things like that. Glory, fun, friendship.

Power do not interest me.

[*Emelia K. Fletcher]

I agree. I don't want to carry the maturing burden of responsibility. Sometimes, I feel that Runouw has lost its element of fun, immaturity, and above all, socialness. So, you want to be a mod?

Take this for example.

You wake up this morning, and get on Runouw. Have some fun. Post a few levels. Get into arguments. Daily life.
You post your levels, only to find them gone five minutes later. The 'reason?' They were rubbish.
You go onto the forums, get some posts. Start debating something with someone, show your opinions. Then, a mod comes on, and breaks it up by warning you and the other.
Deterred, you write a story to see if anyone can give criticism. You post it out. To find it locked when you get back, expecting reviews, and a note from a mod saying it 'did not compile with the rules'.

A mod is someone who does the things that happened to the person in that.
Do you want to be a mod, someone who breaks up someone's fun, not because you wanted to, but because it was a duty?

And I expect to be nuked by MoD just about... now.

[Blablob]

Wow. Thank you guys. Your commitment to answering my questions (rather than posting a direct review) really means a lot, especially since this is my first story in months. A part of me now wishes I had written this for a bigger audiance so I could post it on other sites. :O

I feel punk'd by my own idiocy. o.o But yeah, as a philosophical story, this is highly intelligent, and that's coming from someone who has a passion for writing philosophically. 9/10. I apologize for making a scene up there. This combined with the turn of events made me buy it way too much. -_-

Well, the fact that you bought it must be a good thing. Anyways, no harm done to your little "scene"; I took it as a compliment actually.

That may be correct, as you are very, very mature... but is that a good thing or bad thing?

So you can start making money at a younger age and understand what a girl really wants so you can get one yourself.

Or do you feel that your childhood was destroyed, the capacity for you to have "fun" limited and completely lost?

Contradiction rite thar.

I was like "Blablob? Being srs? Philosophical? Whut?"

Blablob: > WRITE A PHILOSOPHICAL STORY.
Ridder: The people love your story, even the bandits! But they still shoot you in the face. Blablob Dies. Game Over.

"Brabrob can talk intelligent? Whut?"

Also, DEADEYE METER IS FULL. THOSE BANDITS WILL NEVER SEE ME COMING.

Frankly, I don't see the mods being more powerful, I just see them as regular people.

Good. That's how you should view us, and it's sad that you're one of the few users who do. Everyone else pretty much thinks "Derp, you're a Mod? Okay, I'll either worship you or fear you." We're all humans in this world after all. I don't want you to worship me, and I certainly don't want you to be scared of me; just show me respect, and I will do the same for you. And realistically, that's all I'd expect from people even if I wasn't a Mod.

And my Mod dream keeps strong even today. Even after reading that, Blab. That was truly a magnificent piece of work. I applaud you, sir. Thank you opening my eyes and realizing the risks that Modship might bring.

I'm glad to hear you're keeping hope alive in your dreams. I said it from the very beginning that I didn't intend to scare people away from their ambitions (which was more or less a metaphor for users who wanted to become a Mod, but I wanted to remain nonspecific). But I'm also glad I've opened your eyes a little more, which was definitely the point of this story.

Would I be a good Moderator? Can people trust me? Or maybe am I like Blablob, an innocent person, that will receive power and will fear it?

Theoretically, you can be both. Also, you shouldn't worry too much about how your opinion differs from others; we're all different after all, and I left the story partially open so I could get different opinions.

Do you want to be a mod, someone who breaks up someone's fun, not because you wanted to, but because it was a duty?

I think this is essentially a question of "do you want to grow up or remain immature"? A major portion of my story focuses heavily on the burden of maturity, because on one hand you have the knowledge to do the right thing, but on the other, you may be giving up some of the regular habits you used to make, and the question comes to mind if it's truly worth it or not. However, this is all just a typical standpoint for someone who is "growing up".

If only I had posted this story before Runouw Votes

[Suyo]

I usually do not read stories, so my first thought was: Holy ♥♥♥♥ that's a ton of text.
Second thought: Holy ♥♥♥♥ that's an awesome text.

You're talking about some important facts about power. It reminds me when Runouw offered the modship to me - at the time, there were a few people I didn't really like (not telling names). Everytime they broke the rules I had to hold myself back so I gave them the normal penalty, and wouldn't let my personal preferences decide to double the ban length or instantly permaban them. With the time I was a mod, this wasn't a problem anymore as I accustomed myself to fair judging. Instead of opinions about users, I have a problem now with blowing up the site

And, to close this post of, a slowclap.gif for you.

[JSlayerXero]

This....has truly taught me what power is.

Power can have mean many different things, but in a way, it's scary.

People can use power responsibly, or use for their own personal gain. And that's something scarier than lions, snakes, or anything that people can be scared of.

It all depends on the user.

A tool is used based on how the user wants to use it. Like I said, power is one of many tools. Power is abstract, being that it isn't material, but that doesn't stop it from being a tool.

Today, I'm surrounded by typical teenagers, mainstream lovers, shooter enthusiasts. You name it. Average teenage boy? Call of Duty, immature, don't look at relationships the right way.

Typical teenage girl? Likes Justin Bieber, doesn't like games, and also doesn't look at relationships the right way.

I'm not saying all teenagers are like this, it's just, majority of the people I've seen are exactly like that.

Me? I like a different style of music, play different games from other people, and will be smart about relationships. Nice, smart, funny, fun to be around, that's what I take the time to think about. I don't say: ''Wow, that girl is sexy, I'm asking her out.'' It disgusts me seeing this amount of typical teenagers. If I see someone like that, I don't even bother, I won't bother with trying to change their opinion. They will do what they like. But what disgusts me more, girls actually like guys that do what I mentioned above and vice versa.

Frankly, gaming guys are mostly like this: "I'm this high on the leader board and I'm SUCH a SHOWOFF! LOOK AT ME!" -_- Here's my formula as to how we got there: leader boards + showoffs = recent generation of gamers. And the people that hangout around these people get affected by them.

Girls probably just like Bieber cause he looks "cute." I love the people I live with as the some of the funniest moment we have are the conversations. One of my favorites is "cute is used for babies and puppies." I give not one crud about those kinds of people. Lucky for me, I don't live around those kinds of people. And frankly, those are the kinds of people I don't acre about girl OR guy. We can change these people, but it would take a very long time. The best we can do is change the generation that comes AFTER them. Make "guns n' graphics" a thing of the past.

On a side note, with the Perfect Dark series, you can see TWO different generations of gaming, and their audience. Watch FrenzyTheKillbot's Let's plays, you'll see the difference between the two games and the audience they shoot for.

Over the years I've learned that a lot of what appears to be "absolutes" are in fact, relative. Absolutes exist, but a lot of times we mistaken relatives as absolutes. Ex. I've learned that "skill" is a relative term. If one is "skilled" being that he knows how to do something very well, or does it right most of the time, he can referred to somebody as "skilled" out of experience. He would also recognize when someone with more skill than him in the same area. However, say a guys is "skilled" in computers by today's standards. That would mean he knows how to use a computer better than the average person. But think about this, if everybody who used a computer were as "skilled" as he was, he'd be normal.

That's why I enjoy being isolated from the world. For me, I didn't (and still don't) have to deal with that. Often times I get referred to as weird when I do hang ot with people, be it at parties or anything else. But what is "weird"? Weird is a subjective term, just like many other things. Weird describes something out of the normal. But what is "normal"? There's a saying that goes "your different, just like everybody else." A saying that manages to be ironic, yet true. I'm quite a bit different from most people, but if different is normal, that makes me normal. But does that make everybody else weird? Heck no. Weird is used when some one is very different from yourself. But that makes it subjective. Often times I'll use weird as a joke. Often I'll get a response like, "YOUR telling me I'M weird?" But if someone calls me weird, I take it as a compliment. Because really, everybody has an oddity that sets them apart from everybody else. Whether it's physical or mental, everybody has something others don't. It's just what sets each person apart from each other.

I wake up every day and tell myself, I was born in the wrong decade. ... I always think, I was born too late. I don't want to become like my peers, my sanity couldn't handle it.

HAHAHAHA, You think YOU feel like you were born in the wrong decade? Look at me! Most of my favorite games are still SNES, N64, PS1, Sega Genesis, and even some NES games. Almost all of my favorites are last gen games. I didn't even get my N64 until post 2000. There are some Gamecube and PS2 in the mix, and maybe some Xbox. But there's maybe one next gen game I've played that I really like. (DMC4) And even then, many of the games I love the most I STILL need to use an emulator to play.

That's why I feel a Mod position would get me closer to my dream ... to not think that 1997 was the wrong year to be born in. I'll feel like I belong.

Is it just me, or am I older than you? *checks* Yes, I am older than you. Surprisingly enough. I'm not sure if this is true, but I think I might be older than about half of you guys. Don't feel bad, being born in the past decade or two is a good thing, because it let's you realize how stupid recent generation life is. If you were part of it, chances are you wouldn't realize your error.

I agree. I don't want to carry the maturing burden of responsibility. Sometimes, I feel that Runouw has lost its element of fun, immaturity, and above all, socialness. So, you want to be a mod?

A mod is someone who does the things that happened to the person in that.
Do you want to be a mod, someone who breaks up someone's fun, not because you wanted to, but because it was a duty?

Things is, "mature fun" is thought by most people to be things like M rated games and R rated movies, or things from said games or movies. Mature just means that, mature. R and M simply means you should be that old before playing or watching. The reason is because if you ARE that old, chances are you won't grow up like our recent generation. Since they play such games, they pick up language from them. If you play them when your older, you may, or may not pick it up, but your more likely to take it like a civilized adult, not an immature child.

Frankly, the user should at least be able to explain himself. And besides, the mod, like anybody else, should give a reason why his level is bad, and tell him to fix it. Give him a time limit, like, a couple of days, if he doesn't fix it within that time: *nuke* At least that way it'll give the user some slack space.

Wow. Thank you guys. Your commitment to answering my questions (rather than posting a direct review) really means a lot, especially since this is my first story in months. A part of me now wishes I had written this for a bigger audience so I could post it on other sites. :O

Frankly, I don't see the mods being more powerful, I just see them as regular people.

Good. That's how you should view us, and it's sad that you're one of the few users who do. Everyone else pretty much thinks "Derp, you're a Mod? Okay, I'll either worship you or fear you." We're all humans in this world after all. I don't want you to worship me, and I certainly don't want you to be scared of me; just show me respect, and I will do the same for you. And realistically, that's all I'd expect from people even if I wasn't a Mod.

I'm generally called weird because I think WAY differently from most people. I was told a few days ago that most teenagers think level, not going that deep. I was also told that I tend to think deep. People can be mature in one area, and be immature in another. I tend to be deep in thought. But frankly, often I find myself TRYING to be weird, or in most cases, just trying to be annoying.

Frankly, your just a human, like everybody else on this site. Mod or not, everybody deserves respect. All people are created equal. Helpless, defenseless, and at the will of the mother. Even if they aren't born equal, all humans are created equal.

I usually do not read stories, so my first thought was: Holy ♥♥♥♥ that's a ton of text.
Second thought: Holy ♥♥♥♥ that's an awesome text.

You're talking about some important facts about power. It reminds me when Runouw offered the modship to me - at the time, there were a few people I didn't really like (not telling names). Every time they broke the rules I had to hold myself back so I gave them the normal penalty, and wouldn't let my personal preferences decide to double the ban length or instantly permaban them. With the time I was a mod, this wasn't a problem anymore as I accustomed myself to fair judging. Instead of opinions about users, I have a problem now with blowing up the site

Ah yeah, personal bias, there are some things where bias is the only way to go, as there are times where there are no means. But when there is a mean, it doesn't require that one use that mean. Even if it's there, sometimes bias is still the way to go. But that does not mean bias is the only way to go. Often times bias is not that way, and that the mans are. But when you see the bias would CLEARLY, and I do mean CLEARLY help, use it. Not sure if banning is one of those things though. But you never know, a random spammer, given enough time to fix himself, may out design level4 some day.

Power is a fickle thing.

And, to close this post of, a slowclap.gif for you.

*User cannot see image* For real, I can't. But hey, I'm sure it's good.

Man, what is it with me and quoting like, 50 people?
Obvious exaggeration should be obvious

[Buff_]

What's this? No explosions, no action scenes, no partial nudity, and NO EXPLOSIONS!?

On a scale of 1 to epic, you get a Raymond.








I hope this review has been extremely informative and inspiring. Thank you for your time.