Starting off, I suppose I wanna throw my two cents in and say that I as well, don't know what the issues were, but not knowing IMO is a good thing, meaning that the staff is doing their job, doing it discreetly and behind the scenes. As for a "popular" group of people banning/getting upset and leaving, I did not get a chance to know the group/people who were involved so I don't wish to throw out my opinion on the matter for the banning and all that.
As someone who found out about FT nearly 6 years starting this year, when I first joined, I did not have a problem with a single member, nor do I remember seeing any conflicts with the staff or members. By the time I left because of schooling reasons, I had thoroughly enjoyed my time here on FT.
I came back as of recently because I loved the community, I loved having a well-moderated forum where it's PG-13 and members can talk and have fun and meet other furs. I came back because I loved this website and all that it has done for its members and for myself and I want to help out any way possible.
I suppose I'm only seeing it from one side of the story, but from what I can tell, I think the moderators are doing their job, fairly and justly. This isn't a site where you get paid to work and maintain it, you put your own free time into it and devote a lot of man hours running it among other Mods and Admins as well, and for that I respect them. I trust that what theyre saying is true, that they delegate and handle the situations professionally and it seems like they get a lot of flack, no matter how they handle the situation. Mods and Admins deserve as much respect you or I do (Normally) If you had a problem with someone in IRL, you wouldn't just call them out on it and stay mad while trying to talk and work on the situation, the same applys here and I think many forget that these are actual people, not just words on a screen. I believe that if you are involved or a friend was involved in a quarrel, that you either privately message and discuss this with the Moderators/people involved maturely, or you let it go, don't show any resentment on the decision, and move on.
This is a site for HELPING furs into the community, giving them a place where they can feel welcomed and have a good time.
Understand, there are a lot of teens, young and old on this website, all coming from different backgrounds and environments. There should be no public shaming or call outs, not on this forum.
To reiterate, I love being here, I love seeing everyone happy and getting along, thats why we're here, to make friends. When I came back after a long hiatus, I was welcomed back, felt welcomed back and I got myself involved in topics and threads all over as much as I could.
In regards to the "cliques" and the like, (I'll use the recent "Lunar Empire, Eclipse and Solar Rebellion" groups as an example). Now I dont know if you'd label that as a clique or not, but how it started was spontaneous. I had no idea what was going on and why, but it was fun, it still is fun, and in regards to the groups, I have ALWAYS, ALWAYS posted and made a point that EVERYONE was allowed to join, to have fun and be a part of our silly little groups. Some people call it a fad, I just call it fun. This is all in good fun and no one should feel left out. I started my little art project and stated too, that regardless of if you thought the groups going on were silly or not or not involved in it at all, that I wanted everyone in it and to drop a description/ref sheet so I could do a community project for everyone to enjoy. That offer still stands and I make it a point to go and try to get involved with different topics and threads and also involve everyone so they dont feel left out.
A majority of the people on here would be more than happy to listen and to talk to anyone about any problems they have, do not feel left out, I see so many people post and say that they will listen and that they care, and thats what I love about this site.
I suppose moving on to an actual question I have, I see that many people are saying that the Spam boards are just getting a little crazy and how inactive other boards are. Ive noticed in General chatter, a lot of the threads started there get moved TO the spam board. So I suppose the question I have is, "What qualifys as "General Chatter" to not be moved to the spam board"?
Thanks everyone, members and Admins/Mods for all your efforts to keeping this site alive. It is appreciated.