In order to curb the increase in "Why was I downvoted?" like comments, I have hidden individual upvote and downvote totals. Those comments add nothing but static within a thread. Please continue to follow the community guidelines (http://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2013/july/24/community-guidelines), specifically do not downvote because you disagree with someone's opinion. I can see all of the upvotes and downvotes and will continue to monitor them. Some folks lost access to their account because they couldn't follow the rules.
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Wooooo finally
downvote
kidding, of course.
Fantastic! Way to go Joe
I'll just add this here for good measure.
Damn you beat me to it! The all-seeing Joe!
So this site is going to crumble in and upon itself the second we win a title and obtain the one ring to rule them all?
I was afraid everything was going to implode when Sam Rogers was finally not denied a pussy touchdown against OSU. It will take some kind of power to save us when we win it all.
I was more worried about the ECU game, when the refs reviewed the play and decided he stepped out of bounds, ensuring that he actually was denied a pussy touchdown.
In fact, we should have known we were going to be in for a season like this when that happened.
Sam showed incredible mercy at that moment. I sincerely hope that he never has to do so again.
That GIF reminds me of an ex-girlfriend...
You have an ex "girlfriend" named Joe?
Not there's anything wrong with that.
She had a lot of nicknames, but 'Joe' wasn't one of them. Crazy ass & wild girl. I mainly just called her 'God', as in "Oh God, Oh God...".
you like gingerbread?
'Is it supposed to burn?'
Those Radford girls...
Don't know if this is still the case, but back in the mid-late 70's when I was on campus (and the ratio was something like 2.2 males to every female), a requirement for graduation was to have at least one, um, "relationship" with a Radford co-ed. I took care of that halfway through my freshman year...
That Quadfest will get after ya
She should use a lotion or something after she shaved.
Well, all my downvoting and I'm still here. Yay :-)
So, no more of this?
That's one of the creepiest things I've ever seen
You must have forgotten this

Oh my god please make it go away
I am gonna downvote the hell out of you people!
kidding, kidding
best. idea. ever.
I'll just say this at the implication that people like myself who raised the issue of improper downvoting were pointlessly adding static or being oversensitive to the abuse.
Indeed, both the Moderator and Joe himself commented on threads indicating that it was a benefit to comment on such abuse, as it gave Joe the heads up that it was occurring. When Joe spoke up and said it was no longer beneficial, I ceased debating the issue or speaking up on obvious abuses.
So while I appreciate that so many felt that it was detracting from the experience, I hope all can appreciate that the activity by myself and others was not based on over-sensitivity to our individual TL counts, but instead we were working from the the earlier stated encouragement of that activity by TKP staff, and the concept that part of what made TKP what it has become is in at least some small part due to an adherence to the rules defined by Joe.
...[downvotes] can't hold me back any moooooore!
So you didn't read this part,
or that gif has been burning a hole in your memory, and this was the best place you could find for it.
I cannot help but notice the incongruity where people must compulsively tell other people to "let something go".
Leg for appropriate use of SQUIRREL
Yes but then you brought it back up for no reason. This would be the static and noise that was being referred to. It's over now, the battle has been won, so we can all just let it go.
And since you asked, Frozen has been burned into my mind. Between the 10,000 times I've seen it on DVD, the Disney on Ice version, stepping on the g*dd*mn Olaf talking snowman, and watching my daughter play with the dolls it's pretty much seared in there for eternity.
Imagine how I feel. My daughter plays Elsa a birthday parties as a part-time job. Kid's parties. Not adult's. That would be gross.
"No Reason"?
I'm almost speechless.
Let me introduce you to the topic:
META: INDIVIDUAL UPVOTE AND DOWNVOTE TOTALS HIDDEN,
And its opening statement:
In order to curb the increase in "Why was I downvoted?" like comments, I have hidden individual upvote and downvote totals. Those comments add nothing but static within a thread.
Sure. This was not the place for me to offer one closing statement on my actions. A statement, mind you, that made no judgements on those who demanded it be "let go".
My bad.
To me, at least, it sounded like you were complaining about people's reception of comments and discussions that happened a while ago. Why bother? I understand wanting to justify yourself, especially now that Joe has come down with a ruling, but at this point it sounds like an "I told you so"
Well, considering that at least 6 people commenting or reading this thread thought we were simply being crybabies, I thought it worth explaining that both Joe & Mode Rator had condoned the highlighting of improper downvoting, even on the Dalton thread, up until Joe said he no longer did.
How that comes across as an "I told you so" (indeed, it would seem rather that I have been "told") or complaining about something unrelated on a thread specifically about the topic, is just a bit beyond me.
Anyway, I apologize that my comment caused you and others to be put out in any way on this thread. I was trying to get my own sort of closure on the topic in a way that everyone might understand the genesis of the "static".
I would just like to say that this is the most meta sub-thread of a meta thread that there ever was.
Meta. Nope, no longer a valid descriptor.
I personally appreciate everyone's willingness to stand up for expected standards; it just got out of control in too many instances. We used to be able to self-correct very quickly and move on. Even I got sucked in a few times more than I probably should have, hoping that I might be able to shut things down, but that usually failed. Now it seems like a point of contention any time it happens, so thanks to Joe for the solution, and if I can help in any way with managing things in addition to the small bit that I already do, you know how to get a hold of me.
Hopefully now we'll have less snipping over foolish things, and these silly arguments will go:
In case anyone missed the memo, here's the best way to contact VTGuitarMan:

Hey now, that thing's not a toy. Now do you need me for something or not?
Is that Lily?!
No...

Ok that is probably the loudest I've laughed at a comment on TKP. Well done sir!
Thought the exact same thing
Yes.

Here's the thing, improper downvoting is still an issue. Note how in the OP, Joe is still asking that people continue to observe the Community Guidelines and that he does monitor voting, and has already recently banned people who have abused the system.
All he's doing is removing the transparency of the votes. This happened because the people who were trying to do what he himself asked were being scapegoated and singled out because others couldn't play along by the rules. Now, those distractions won't happen. People will just get banned. I guess that's preferable.
Unpossible. Why, this thread alone is proof that with no longer calling out abuse, the downvoting of opinions will cease to be an issue.
/sarc
Obviously Joe has some more bogies to splash.
Just... take a deep breath and relax. Let's get back to talking about football/Virginia Tech.
I appreciate your concern for my stress levels. I assure you I am amused by the antics on display. I hoped the /sarc tag would make that clear.
Regardless of the good intention, discussions like this fill up a thread with pointless banter. So, I vow to say no more on the subject from this point forward. I ask that others do the same.
You're getting downvoted because people are getting tired of your backseat moderating and incessant whining about turkey legs. It happened to such a degree that the system had to be changed in order to try to stop that.
You know, I was going to downvote this, but then changed my mind even though I think it's an insulting interpretation of the facts.
I'm frankly astonished at how willing people are to be upset about something that isn't really in dispute.
You ignore the very words that I wrote and that you are responding to, and instead create a reality that fits your conclusion. I cannot reason with that other than to bore everyone with a repetition of the simple things I've already said.
So I won't even try.
You and/or others can downvote my posts in this thread all you like, and you can tell everyone it is deserved for whatever reason you like, and we'll just have to disagree. No skin off my back.
I really don't care if you downvote me or not. And that is how normal posters would respond in the first place. I doubt that Joe ever thought that anyone would care so much over imaginary turkey legs when he added that function to the website.
And I know that you posted in this thread to defend your honor and all, but still, you ironically revert to backseat moderating and making posts complaining about the downvoting and how the downvoters should be banned in the very thread that was an explanation for why the site was changed to try to prevent those discussions.
Improper downvoting is an "issue" only to the people who take offense to the occasional downvote.
I have yet to see anyone get downvoted improperly to a point where they can no longer interact and participate on TKP like they should be allowed to (i.e., I have seen no one improperly downvoted to a level where they can no longer post). Even if someone goes on a downvoting spite-spree and hunts down lots of a particular member's posts just to downvote them more, other people upvote for the sole purpose of correcting this transgression.
Is improper downvoting against the community guidelines? Yes. Don't do it. Is improper downvoting an issue that in any way, shape, or form actually affects your TKP experience? Only if you get upset every time your comment score was something on the lines of "+5 -1".
The issue being discussed in this thread is not the issue of improper downvoting- the issue is the fact that some people, when faced with an improper downvote, feel the need to start the same exact discussion/question every time: "Why was I downvoted?" "Why doesn't this person explain it instead of just downvote?" "This downvote is against the community guidelines."
The problem with doing this is simple- it does nothing to curb improper downvoting, yet it still fills up threads and forums with posts not related to the original topic or to the purpose of TKP itself. This is one of very few threads where voting (up or down votes) is even a topic, so these sort of posts that have been showing up seemingly on every thread lately are in fact noise. Joe does not like noise. It detracts from the site, and from everyone's experience.
However, instead of telling people to "stop complaining" and risking offending someone who, in the first place did nothing wrong (they were improperly downvoted, etc.), Joe has simply followed a different tactic to try and mitigate the problem.
Trying to correct a wrong with something that is wrong for a different reason does not make it right. Let's get back to talking about the things we're all here for, and leave it at that.
I'm sorry, can you say that again, I wasn't listening.
Stay out of Malibu, Lebowski!
Stay out of Malibu, deadbeat!
Keep your ugly f#cking goldbricking ass out of my beach community!
:P
I should down vote you for having to see this again. :-)
Edit: vtfly for Let it go girl
Umm her name is Elsa and she is a princess, a frigid b!tch, but a princess nonetheless.
technically, by the end of the movie she's the Queen.
but but if i get downvoted once or twice that's like practically all of my turkey legs.
how could i possibly survive that?
yesss... I will henceforth always assume that if my posts get zero turkey legs, it's because some trolls downvoted enough to cancel them all out.
this is what i think of downvotes! never given one and dont plan on needing too.....
easiest thing to do to a DV is just brush it off and keep it moving. dont sweat the small stuff
but now the up and down vote buttons are so hard to find with no numbers next to them!!!
/sarcastica
On a side note, we have now lost the 38-0 score total... that is the only downside to the scoring now
see below in all caps
Some whining going on at 247/VTSCOOP by people who've been banned from TKP. One 247 poster stated that TKP (they did exclude French) is more for the casual fan .... for people who don't really know that much about sports ....
so who got banned?
I poked my head in there and looked. I banned iWantVICKback because he could not follow the voting guidelines, specifically with regards for downvotes, not for the subject and contents of his "What does Beamer do?" thread. I even emailed him to explain that.
He downvoted everyone who had an optimistic opinion in the "Does the Duke win take some pressure off Frank and Whit?" thread. That aggravated me because on the one hand he was able to say his piece a week ago in his thread, but couldn't respect the opinion of others (or follow the community guidelines). So, he gone.
boom. outed.
Ahahaha! And 247 banned our buddy who has all the connections and hates t-shirt sales.
Thanks Joe. This site rocks and you continue to put in the time to make it better.
It's a weird/delicate balance.
I upleg because I like/agree/chuckle/am amused by a post.
I do not downleg because I dislike/disagree/am saddened/or unamused by a post but instead only downleg when the post provides nothing fruitful to the conversation. Like we're talking about "Hey man, these injured runningbacks sure are making it hard for me to sustain a stiff during a tech game," and someone comes along and they're all like "Have you seen the size of fruit flies in Botswana? You'll down right shit directly into your pants."
Do I upleg because I was amused? Or do I downleg because we were talking about boners and Hokies, not about stupid Botswanian fruit flies?
Is that the gist of the legging?
bahaha so he started a forum about TKP on 247 to then complain about why he got banned and he received 19 down-votes just for the topic alone. If that doesn't give him the answer I don't know what more we can do fellers.
This gif is perfect.. banned from 1 site.. fly's to the other to complain and boom down the toilet he goes.

That was interesting.
Wait... what?