This is a stupid, senseless thread. EVERYTIME there is a change in staff there is always a thread like this. I'm really surprised it took so long honestly. There are some things that should be said though.
1. Mods, don't flatter yourself. Activity isn't up because you guys are mods. When G1 and I were appointed last year, shit shot through the roof for awhile. Was it because of us being mods? No. This isn't an "Enzo is a bitter ex-mod" rant as some will call it, this is a "calling it how I see it" tiff. You guys were appointed because TIO thought this place needed a revamp. Kudos to him, it's the first time he's done something an admin should do. That's not a knock on TIO, he needs to do more than appear apathetic and lethargic if he is even remotely vested in the best interests of this board. Do I disagree in the way he went about it, no. I just believe he should have made his selections off of merit, credentials and activity. The only one who has all three and really deserves his spot is Luke. Luke is probably the best asset to this board right now. Sharpshooter wasn't around for 6 months and his posts are one liners and bumps of completely forgotten and useless threads. From what I gather he was a good hand in the eFed but that's deader than Amy Winehouse. MizMasta has longevity to his credit, but again wasn't around for a large chunk of time. A vast majority of his posts are one liners as well but is far more active than SS. I hope you guys don't get butt hurt, I'm not insulting you, nor trying to, I'm just stating it how it is. Outside of Luke, it appears you guys post because you're staff and you think it's expected of you. I think to be a mod, you should be more active, lead discussions and drive intelligent debate. The best thing you guys have is a non bias and I agree with your selections on that basis, but Kaedon, Ichiban, SE 76 and Rell are all better candidates and fill the requisites I feel are necessary to be a mod. Peep as well if he wasn't caught in the stigma that "the clique" nonsense has caused.
Activity is up for a few reasons, 1 being the HOT Punk angle. Look at last summer, this place was popping after the Nexxus storyline and died off after teh E had Cena ruin it. And secondly, you have the returns of some guys who are assets to this place. Ichiban came back, he is the goods, as is SE 76 and even Kaedon, despite the differences almost everyone has with him. Peep kind of kicked off the return spree and the best return is Rell. I've never encountered the guy until he came back and he's what you want a member to be, he posts everywhere, he's polite and cordial and his posts almost always have substance. Then there are some who have comeback and make absolutely worthless posts and should stay gone. There are some who are constants here and almost always are useless. There are some here that could be assets but do indeed get shat on by the "cool kids" and I can understand why TIO wants to make changes. Being a dick for the sake of being a dick is a turnoff. I can understand coming together to run off an Adam or 403 Kid, but sometimes attacking established members who aren't as stupid is silly. I almost felt sorry for Nation. I almost feel sorry for Weebo. I almost felt sorry for the XBAs and Wordlifes of the place. But I can't because I don't know why, nor really care, why some quarrel with each other. There is the ignore feature. Use it.
I'm in no way trying to set double standards nor bedevil in hypocrisy, I've partaken in useless flames (as have the admins) , but I've also stood on the sidelines and watched as someone was torn apart. I've made stupid posts, made brilliant posts (including the POTY of 2010), insulting posts, been insulted, made racists posts, looked like a fool, been owned, given props, denied props, been cocky, been humbled. Everyone here has. Some will admit it, some wont. Some will think it's cool to MS Paint someone's child with jizms on him and insinuate incest but get butt hurt about online love affairs gone awry. Some will very faggily stick up for their online homies, even if it doesn't concern them. Some will never fall into any of this nonsense. Some will always find fault in staff and pretend they have all the answers to make this place better, get humbled, and spend shameful amounts of time making sock accounts to extract their revenge. Everybody wants to just get on down the road, some easier than others and it sucks when other motherfuckers are putting potholes in it to slow them down. TIO, to his credit, is trying to contract someone to fix them potholes.
While I feel two of the three mod appointees don't fit the criteria and should be replaced with those that do, despite the few instances where they have fallen asleep at the wheel, I feel they should be given a chance. And that should be a theme around this place, give motherfuckers a chance. Even those that are coming back under sock accounts. This place is fun, and when it's active, this is my favorite place to post. I would like to keep it that way and identifying and correcting the problems while keeping those that perpetuate those problems and the victims of those problems is the right direction to go. Hopefully this isn't taken as an "Enzo is a bitter exmod acting holier than thou" or a "tl;dr" post.