Announcement

 

We, the management of AVSIM have permanently banned Mr. Srdan Kostic, longtime member and onetime Administrator and Moderator of the Hardware Forums. Srdan has a lot of friends that have much respect for certain aspects of his technical and organizational abilities. For many years he was a positive contributor to this institution.

 

When Word Not Allowed was appointed the Hardware Forums Manager he asked if he could put together an FSX hardware guide. Over the course of the next short while he accumulated the various pieces most of us hardware and software orientated people had collected and stowed in files, favorites links and buried in old forum threads hither and yon.

 

Over the next few weeks and months we began to get buffeted by the blowbacks from Srdan's human interaction skills, or I should say, the near total absence thereof. The longer he moderated the hardware forums, the firmer and harsher he became. The harder he became, the more members resisted and the more authority he was granted to enforce his methods of moderation.

 

Srdan seemed to have a gift for finding the wrong way to say something to members that he was moderating. Complaint after complaint was filed, but we would judge his deficiency to be some kind of cultural thing and go over the same basics repeatedly. Now don't get me wrong, there are some clear advantages to a firm handshake, so to speak, and many felt the strong sense of order he brought was exactly what was needed. If that were all there was, I might have even agreed with them.

 

One lesson he had a difficult time learning was when to remain neutral, that expressing his personal opinions on commercial products is inappropriate for AVSIM staff. The problem with that, besides often being wrong is, as a staff member, everything he said carried greater weight than the average members. This also caused problems with certain developers.

 

The stress within the management team caused by Srdan really began to be evident with his accumulation of power, and his willingness to use it with little restraint. With Administrator power came the ability to move threads forum wide into the Hardware forums. There were no halfway measures with Srdan, so he became a hyperactive agent of motion throughout any forums that caught his interest.

 

The most serious strain of the troubles began to grow as the information Word Not Allowed strung together was massaged and compiled into an easier to read format than what Nick Needham's various posts had attained, although a lot of Nick's work was indeed his own (as was Bojote's). That is where things became increasingly surreal. It was no longer our team's guide but Word Not Allowed's. First it was our ideas, then their ideas, then his ideas of what had been a number of different ideas into what now amounts to his guide of accumulated FSX knowledge.

 

Word Not Allowed's blatant abuse of power, the ongoing conflicts with individual members and his embarrassing tendency towards self-aggrandizement began to effect our management relationship we had with him in a negative way. I am sure we share in the blame for not being able to help him overcome these difficulties, but as time went on it became an unmanageable work environment. Srdan began just doing what he wanted when he wanted, any way he wanted.

 

The end had to come, and it went something like this: Srdan decided to support people in the guide on helping their FSX software to run in P3D. It was AVSIM policy that we rigorously oppose any violation of software EULA's with their licensed users. Srdan still wanted to put it in his guide, and Tom said no, Srdan went ahead and did it anyway and put "His" guide on his own domain, and Tom fired him. All members of the AVSIM senior staff agreed 100%.

 

Although Word Not Allowed was fired as Admin, moderator, staff member and was no longer our hardware guy, nothing seemed to change. He still hangs out here, answers the enquirers the same way, still tells everyone to go to his blog which still helps people break their EULA. He is thereby still doing the things he got fired for and are drawing members out of AVSIM to his blog with impunity. After several months of this conduct and being warned repeatedly by senior staff, I officially wrote Srdan asking/ordering him to stop this activity, especially the poaching of our members. He agreed, but did and changed nothing.

 

Last month Paul Johnson was asked by Tom to consider taking the job of running the Hardware forums. Paul agreed and amazingly was willing to write an Official AVSIM hardware and software guide for FSX. He has done an excellent job and produced, what in many people's opinion is the best and most comprehensive FSX guide in the industry.

 

Of course Srdan was not pleased. At first his comments to Paul were almost brotherly. One day last week he let loose and didn't bother mincing words or pretending common cause or comradely rivalry. He was vicious and direct.

 

I don't know if Srdan knew it or not, but the day the guide came out Paul's mother died. The day Word Not Allowed went on the attack was the day she was buried. Between that and a very ill wife Paul was at his ropes end. Who wouldn't be? Paul is gracious enough that he is going to keep publishing the AVSIM guide for the members of AVSIM, but will be announcing stepping down from moderating the Hardware Forum.

 

Yesterday Word Not Allowed again began to directly pull people out of AVSIM with the same old line. He was warned by Chase who was mocked for his effort. No more. We are asking our present moderating staff to do whatever needs to be done to keep the peace and the progress going in the hardware forums. Between Jim, Zach, Chase, Tom and I, we will be fine.

 

We are looking for a specific hardware moderator, but do not want a superstar with an eye for self promotion, but a knowledgeable moderator. In addition we ask our members to step forward and be the drivers of innovation and advancement in the hardware forums. The ordinary hardware tinkerer like myself can be helpful to others. That is our goal for present. We still have Paul helping to keep the guide updated, so we still have what it takes to be the best for those that need guidance, help, and most of all, encouragement. We are human, and this is a human organization. No one is perfect, everyone is mortal and subject to fallibilities, failures and faults.

 

Meanwhile Srdan is not welcome to be a part of the future AVSIM, nor is his guide welcomed to be hosted, posted or linked to from here. We have a better guide in place that will be updated as needed. We have made a difficult decision, but it is made, and we move forward.

 

Sincerely,

Announcement

 

We, the management of AVSIM have permanently banned Mr. Srdan Kostic, longtime member and onetime Administrator and Moderator of the Hardware Forums. Srdan has a lot of friends that have much respect for certain aspects of his technical and organizational abilities. For many years he was a positive contributor to this institution.

 

When Word Not Allowed was appointed the Hardware Forums Manager he asked if he could put together an FSX hardware guide. Over the course of the next short while he accumulated the various pieces most of us hardware and software orientated people had collected and stowed in files, favorites links and buried in old forum threads hither and yon.

 

Over the next few weeks and months we began to get buffeted by the blowbacks from Srdan's human interaction skills, or I should say, the near total absence thereof. The longer he moderated the hardware forums, the firmer and harsher he became. The harder he became, the more members resisted and the more authority he was granted to enforce his methods of moderation.

 

Srdan seemed to have a gift for finding the wrong way to say something to members that he was moderating. Complaint after complaint was filed, but we would judge his deficiency to be some kind of cultural thing and go over the same basics repeatedly. Now don't get me wrong, there are some clear advantages to a firm handshake, so to speak, and many felt the strong sense of order he brought was exactly what was needed. If that were all there was, I might have even agreed with them.

 

One lesson he had a difficult time learning was when to remain neutral, that expressing his personal opinions on commercial products is inappropriate for AVSIM staff. The problem with that, besides often being wrong is, as a staff member, everything he said carried greater weight than the average members. This also caused problems with certain developers.

 

The stress within the management team caused by Srdan really began to be evident with his accumulation of power, and his willingness to use it with little restraint. With Administrator power came the ability to move threads forum wide into the Hardware forums. There were no halfway measures with Srdan, so he became a hyperactive agent of motion throughout any forums that caught his interest.

 

The most serious strain of the troubles began to grow as the information Word Not Allowed strung together was massaged and compiled into an easier to read format than what Nick Needham's various posts had attained, although a lot of Nick's work was indeed his own (as was Bojote's). That is where things became increasingly surreal. It was no longer our team's guide but Word Not Allowed's. First it was our ideas, then their ideas, then his ideas of what had been a number of different ideas into what now amounts to his guide of accumulated FSX knowledge.

 

Word Not Allowed's blatant abuse of power, the ongoing conflicts with individual members and his embarrassing tendency towards self-aggrandizement began to effect our management relationship we had with him in a negative way. I am sure we share in the blame for not being able to help him overcome these difficulties, but as time went on it became an unmanageable work environment. Srdan began just doing what he wanted when he wanted, any way he wanted.

 

The end had to come, and it went something like this: Srdan decided to support people in the guide on helping their FSX software to run in P3D. It was AVSIM policy that we rigorously oppose any violation of software EULA's with their licensed users. Srdan still wanted to put it in his guide, and Tom said no, Srdan went ahead and did it anyway and put "His" guide on his own domain, and Tom fired him. All members of the AVSIM senior staff agreed 100%.

 

Although Word Not Allowed was fired as Admin, moderator, staff member and was no longer our hardware guy, nothing seemed to change. He still hangs out here, answers the enquirers the same way, still tells everyone to go to his blog which still helps people break their EULA. He is thereby still doing the things he got fired for and are drawing members out of AVSIM to his blog with impunity. After several months of this conduct and being warned repeatedly by senior staff, I officially wrote Srdan asking/ordering him to stop this activity, especially the poaching of our members. He agreed, but did and changed nothing.

 

Last month Paul Johnson was asked by Tom to consider taking the job of running the Hardware forums. Paul agreed and amazingly was willing to write an Official AVSIM hardware and software guide for FSX. He has done an excellent job and produced, what in many people's opinion is the best and most comprehensive FSX guide in the industry.

 

Of course Srdan was not pleased. At first his comments to Paul were almost brotherly. One day last week he let loose and didn't bother mincing words or pretending common cause or comradely rivalry. He was vicious and direct.

 

I don't know if Srdan knew it or not, but the day the guide came out Paul's mother died. The day Word Not Allowed went on the attack was the day she was buried. Between that and a very ill wife Paul was at his ropes end. Who wouldn't be? Paul is gracious enough that he is going to keep publishing the AVSIM guide for the members of AVSIM, but will be announcing stepping down from moderating the Hardware Forum.

 

Yesterday Word Not Allowed again began to directly pull people out of AVSIM with the same old line. He was warned by Chase who was mocked for his effort. No more. We are asking our present moderating staff to do whatever needs to be done to keep the peace and the progress going in the hardware forums. Between Jim, Zach, Chase, Tom and I, we will be fine.

 

We are looking for a specific hardware moderator, but do not want a superstar with an eye for self promotion, but a knowledgeable moderator. In addition we ask our members to step forward and be the drivers of innovation and advancement in the hardware forums. The ordinary hardware tinkerer like myself can be helpful to others. That is our goal for present. We still have Paul helping to keep the guide updated, so we still have what it takes to be the best for those that need guidance, help, and most of all, encouragement. We are human, and this is a human organization. No one is perfect, everyone is mortal and subject to fallibilities, failures and faults.

 

Meanwhile Srdan is not welcome to be a part of the future AVSIM, nor is his guide welcomed to be hosted, posted or linked to from here. We have a better guide in place that will be updated as needed. We have made a difficult decision, but it is made, and we move forward.

 

Sincerely,

All I know is Word Not Allowed was a member of these boards long before he became a staff member, and he's been an awesome contributor way before that happened.

This is your site and you can do what you want with it, but this is a sad day for Avsim.

 

I'm telling you something. A community is a lot more about it's members than it is about it's managers.

 

Shame on you

All I know is Word Not Allowed was a member of these boards long before he became a staff member, and he's been an awesome contributor way before that happened.

This is your site and you can do what you want with it, but this is a sad day for Avsim.

 

I'm telling you something. A community is a lot more about it's members than it is about it's managers.

 

Shame on you

 

+1

 

 

Enviado desde mi iPhone con Tapatalk

Wow, that was unexpected, at least for me.

 

If his behaviour was really that "bad", than avsim gave us a good example that even highest ranked and most appreciated members are "not untouchable".

I can certainly understand this decision given the events as reported. But I honestly wonder if it is necessary to air all this dirty laundry.

But I honestly wonder if it is necessary to air all this dirty laundry.

 

I don't know about it being "dirty laundry", but I can definitely state that it needed to be posted. We have learned that in situations like this, it is best to get the facts out there so that those that would create conspiracies, attempt to re-write the facts, out right exaggerate or under play the events, all need to be set right from the very outset. That's why you see this message from Stephen posted. This is the truth, the facts and it was not a spur of the moment, punitive thing. If we need to be "ashamed" of anything, as someone stated above, is that we should have done this sooner.

This decision makes me very uncomfortable.

 

I have in the past posted that "Word Not Allowed" was abrupt with people (in fact i constrased him with 'Chuck').

 

His blog is hardly AVSIM, i myself have visited a few times, but i still post here, perhaps directing people to it is bad manners, but i don't think he is stealing members.

 

If his reviews and posts were honest, then i personally don't have a problem with them, i understand that this contrasts with advertisers and others and perhaps he should have lost his official position, but this shouldn't be a problem as a member. it also brings into question how honest people are able to be.

 

It's your site and you are welcome to police as you see fit we all abide by the rules, but i personally don't see what he did that warranted a permo ban.

Just an observation. Not just AVSIM BTW. All administrator are egotistical maniacs that fight with each other. Evidently they lack power in there real lives and need an outlet for the lack of it.

but i personally don't see what he did that warranted a permo ban

 

Advocating the busting of EULA's and providing insights in how to do that? Really, you missed that bit? People are welcome to go to his site and do all the tweaks and what you that he provides. We are not going to provide a platform from AVSIM where busting EULA's is listed in just about every forum message he posts. Sorry. That is against our terms of service and has been for a very long time.

Wow, I wasn't aware of any of this. Though I guess that's because I've been in this community for a lot less compared to other members.

 

While I'm not sure whether or now I should agree with his ban (though I feel that it was a little too much, especially after he lost his position), but I definitely don't agree with letting all this stuff out for everyone to see. Though that's the management's decision. Also, what's wrong with his blog if it isn't part of AVSIM?

 

As for the AVSIM policy, as hard as I've tried to find it, I just can't. I can't even find some kind of rules for posting in the forum. Could someone give me a link?

This is the truth, the facts and it was not a spur of the moment

 

I don't know what happened, and I would be inclined to believe that's the case if you hadn't shut down the other side of the story

Just an observation. Not just AVSIM BTW. All administrator are egotistical maniacs that fight with each other. Evidently they lack power in there real lives and need an outlet for the lack of it.

 

Really? How do you know that about me or any other moderator here for that matter?

Advocating the busting of EULA's and providing insights in how to do that? Really, you missed that bit? People are welcome to go to his site and do all the tweaks and what you that he provides. We are not going to provide a platform from AVSIM where busting EULA's is listed in just about every forum message he posts. Sorry. That is against our terms of service and has been for a very long time.

 

 

I didn't miss the point at all.

 

At the (not sure..moderate(ish)) risk of getting myself banned, if we are talking about the P3D EULA then most of the topics in the P3D forum are also in breach of there EULA, unless of course we have lots of developers and or schools.

 

Again i wasn't his biggest fan by any length, i personally, didn't like how he spoke to people and it's your site, you can do what you like.

 

Just wanted to add, while i am sure that it doesn't mean much coming from somebody he doesn't know i am very sorry for Paul's loss.

Just an observation. Not just AVSIM BTW. All administrator are egotistical maniacs that fight with each other. Evidently they lack power in there real lives and need an outlet for the lack of it.

 

I myself do not think its a power thing, i "Deputy sheriff" the forums of a popular FS store/website and i dont get a thrill out of putting my foot down with trolls or people who post complete crap, but you have to...its in the job description.

 

How you handle things and adress people is a diffferent matter and a very delicate matter.