Who says DomLij has all the 'fun'?
There's this wonderful thing called LOTR RPS. I'm fond of it from an entertainment and fictional POV. While some of the actors are... amused by the imagination of fans.

Now, there's two rather large LOTR RPS lists on Yahoogroups: LOTR_RPS and Closer Than Brothers (CTB).

Rest of wank follows:

One of the reasons CTB was created may have been because LOTR_RPS was more open to discussion and all sorts of LOTR RPS-based fic, which some were bothered by and they would later branch off to form CTB.

The CTB list is the second largest LOTR RPS list AFAIK and because of this still 'holds cards' in this division of the fandom.

I'm going to skip over the wank involving me and the CTB mods and the privately emailed threat I received. It's also amusing but I've had my 'bad days' as well.

However, I know this gal, Connie, and others do too. She has shown a good sense of humour and is friendly on LOTRGossip@yahoogroups.com.

Evidently, Yahoogroups has been acting more wonky than usual (I've heard one person say she's lost hundreds of Y!G emails this week) and Connie emailed out a message to CTB:

I am not receiving any e-mail from any of my yahoo groups. I am
trying to keep track of things at the group sites, but it's hit or
miss. I'm VERY agravated as you can imagine, if it's something
crucial, please have someone notify me by my private
email... ***email edited out for posting to wank***
Thanks!
Connie

Okay, probably not the best choice to post that to CTB and I'll explain why later on.

What she got was an admin response of:
For the millionth (at least) time, OFF TOPIC MESSAGES
ARE NOT ALLOWED ON THIS LIST. Do NOT make off-topic
posts here!

Wendy
List Owner


Connie's final on-list CTB response:
I see that I was in error. I will take my name off of your list so that you
won't have to deal with my heinous errors again.

If you'll look at my message, you will see that I was already having
difficulty with my accounts, and trying to get them up and running. To reduce someone
who is already stressed to tears is not an act of kindness.

I won't bother you again.
Connie


Again, probably not the best response because I've seen what the CTB mods post in the past. I'll stand by what I said earlier that Connie is a nice person... and was obviously having a bad day.

Apparently, she received a final response from Wendy, which can be found on LOTRGossip:
} I see that I was in error. I will take my name off
} of your list so that you
} won't have to deal with my heinous errors again.

Thank you. It saves me the effort.

} If you'll look at my message, you will see that I
} was already having
} difficulty with my accounts, and trying to get them
} up and running. To reduce someone
} who is already stressed to tears is not an act of
} kindness.

If you're going to cry over that, you've got serious
mental problems that I can't help you with.


As an extra bonus from the same mod, a posting made to a Viggo Mortensen list back in June:
I also run a rather active list of over 1400 people. The rules there are more stringent than the rules here...yet nobody bitches, nobody moans, and everybody gets along. We post all the time on that list.

This is not a Hollywood gossip rag. Viggo's personal life is none of our business. That is why we have rules. It's a matter of respect.

As far as people not posting here -- that is not my fault. I set the list up so people could get together and chat. I am not the entertainment staff, and I'm not about to force people to talk. Talk or don't talk... frankly, I don't care.

Okay, this mod has multiple 'bad days'. {g}

Based on the membership number and the fact this listmod is also known for moderating on this list, I'm assuming it's CTB. Now, I learned about LOTRGossip from CTB's FAQ. Almost ironic to be anti-LOTR Gossip but pro-LOTR RPS.

As to why most 'got along', 'fear' tends to be a pretty good incentive...

Now, what some folks may have missed was the CTB rules had this moderation clause in their rules at one point:
The new rules are as follows:
7. List members making "one liner" posts will be placed on moderated status for one week. After they have been placed back on regular status, any further one-liner posts will result in indefinite moderated status and/or removal from the list at the owners' discretion.

8. List members making OT posts (with or without the labeling) will be subject to disciplinary action based on the owners' discretion. If we deem it a 'mild' offense, we will send a warning first. If not, and for the second offense following a warning, moderated status for one week will result. Further infractions will result in further moderation (one month) and then removal from the list.

9. Fics posted without the proper warnings (ie. death, NCS, squicks, etc.) will be removed from the Yahoogroups archive and will not be archived on the BTF site. The author will be placed on moderated status, length of which is at the owners' discretion. The fic may be resubmitted with proper warnings attached.

10. Fics posted with unbeta-ed and/or with improper grammar and/or spelling... will be removed from the Yahoogroups archive and will not be archived on the BTF site. The author will be placed on moderated status for one month and directed to a beta-reader's list. Further posting of improper grammar and spelling after this will result in removal from the list.

11. ANYONE caught forwarding fics off of this list to someone NOT subscribed to this list WITHOUT permission from the author of that fic will be removed from the list and banned with no warning. If you have friends not on the list who would like to read the stories, please direct them to join the list or to contact the individual authors. Do not forward the fics.

Please note. We will be harsh. Let me repeat that....we will be harsh. We view this list as a haven and we are sick of bad-fic. Yes, we know that you have the right to speak and write whatever you choose. You will just not do it on *our* list. There are plenty of RPS lists that have little standards and we are not one of them. We apologize for any confusion this may cause with writers whose work is not up to our basic standards, yet we remain resolved to stand firm. If your fics are deleted from the archive and you receive a moderation status notice, you may e-mail us and we will work with you to help you. Or you may leave.

There's almost something... impressive to that. Obviously, Connie fell under #8.

I will note the list rules have recently been revamped to edit out the phrase 'placed on moderation'.

As an additional comment, on-list feedback was somewhat discouraged at one point. So, current on-list feedbacks are very limited and often only from newbies, who aren't aware of the 'it's best to keep out of sight' (lurking) practice some have taken up.

Back to the moderation clauses... Okay, I can understand the why for some of this. I think the problem lies in we obviously don't read rules that much. {g}

For many lists, they aren't structured to be a 'democracy' and this is something a number of us realize when signing on. Although, some do practice stricter rules more than others. {g}

Dunno, I think LOTR RPS fans can 'compete' with Harry Potter fans.