And if this thread or my account should suddenly disappear, remember--I wasn't alone in this. In fact, I think it's safe to say that the majority would like to see the douchebaggery go away.

Reactions, yes. But they aren't looking forward to being called out. The majority of the community is fed up.

And the majority of the community is nice; it hasn't stopped them from portraying HDC as an acrimonious hell hole to anyone who joins.

I get it, you're annoyed at some of the conduct going on, but to be honest I think you're being a tad extreme. Some people can be unfair at times, but these same people tend to contribute a lot of valuable stuff too, hence why they haven't been banned. The mods do act on these things, they really do. You weren't here for Renob or OMCdave, and possibly even Nella and her lot, but if a member is out of line and causing too much trouble, even if they've been here a while they get seen to. The fact it, because the mods know that these people can contribute well they let more slide when it comes to their behaviour because, as I said, they know that these members can contribute well and it's worth putting up with the occasional (because it really isn't as constant as you seem to feel) "douchebaggery" as you put it, for their valuable posts.

And of course the mods won't ban you or close the thread just for speaking out against them. They're not communists.

How many potentially good posters are you willing to sacrifice so the douchebags can get their rocks off, ferret? Do we throw one a week to the dogs? Five? And all so we can appease a handful of assholes?

Fuck that. No one should have to endure fucktards just for trying to contribute to a board, and the fucktards' contributions aren't worth the discarded members accumulated potential.

Isn't this whole thread just an invite for trolling?

Don't you think this sort of problem would be better addressed via a private message to one of the mods?

Seriously, the problem with this place isnt the trolls or the lack of traffic its the incessant fucking whining and attention seeking and general throwing of toys out of prams.

As was mentioned earlier, Straker, if the mods were doing their jobs, there would be no need for this thread.

And what you call "incessant fucking whining and attention seeking and general throwing of toys out of prams" is a fucking community tired of a handful of shitheads sinking the ship. You put up with whatever you want; the rest of us are done with it.

Who is this "we" you keep bringing up?

...just sayin' :p

People like Wicker, Doc, urdevil, and endo in this thread alone, as well as the vast majority of the rest of the board. You don't really think I'm the only one tired of your shit, do you?

And no, I don't feel the need to huddle up with confidants on a message board.

I do actually.

I'll weigh in...

Personally on the whole "new members" thing, I'd rather one GOOD new member (as I've seen a fair few of since joining) that gets into posting, and doesn't get all crybaby about it when they get told "DUH" when they say something stupid, that 10 new members that will.
Why?
All the threads, eating up space, and making shit worse by kind of reinforcing/adding to what may have been a small amount of negativity by taking it to the level of "I'm going to make a thread to say FUCK YOU".

I don't know how I'm really perceived around here...I don't consider myself part of any group as such, probably because I've been here longer than anyone you're talking about...I've seen people call stupid STUPID, and I HAVE seen hazing of newbies, but the thing is, if you think MD and Elvis etc are any kind of issue, you haven't seen the worst by far.
Perhaps I'm wrong, I seldom even go into the new members part of the forum.
In fact the worst I've seen, is the newbies who get around 50+ posts and think they own the place, and they usually start out by (guess what) attacking existing members, making a big public "stand", and then they themselves end up giving the worst amount of shit to newcomers. I'm not saying that's the case here, but I've seen it before - Like Wu said, people getting literally told to fuck off and leave without provocation.
Thankfully, this doesn't really happen anymore.
I'd say this is in no small part due to the ongoing efforts of mods who have been here for long enough to know where to draw a line between hazing and idiotic maliciousness - I've seen things get bad here, really bad, and how things are now...are just not that.
Not all moves by moderation are publicly announced, of this I'm certain...though I KNOW they HAVE been involved in keeping some real idiotic cretins away from the place. The racists, the board flooders, the member imitators.
I don't give new people a hard time, and I never have...I sometimes tell them that they're probably going the wrong way reacting to things that would have ended then and there had they not, and if they get up in my face yeah I'll tell 'em to eat a dick...everyone's got the right to defend themselves sure, but sometimes they just don't need to.
I've had problems with MD in the past, and Elvis too...now we're all good as far as I can tell...in hindsight, part of these problems were due to them, part of them me, and yknow what dragged it out? Them getting a rise out of me. Was it intentional? Probably. Did I feel cruelly and maliciously targeted? Nope. In fact, even then at least part of me took it for just what it was, though that said her, myself and Elvis were a fair bit younger when we had issues. We've grown, and we've grown with this place.
Sometimes the funniest thing can be seeing how a person reacts...but also sometimes it's a good personality and maturity gauging tool, more often than not you DO see in a persons reaction and indication of the type of personality they have, and what lengths/depths they'll go to - but really you can't say they don't contribute here.
Fuglystick as far as I know you and I have never had any problems between us...so, I'm hoping you're not just going to pull the whole "you're sticking up for them" but, because I'm not. We're not best friends. We're not part of the same "group", they're here like anyone else and I don't count seniority as a free pass, I don't give a shit how long anyone's been here (If I did, I'd pretty much think that I rule the place)...I just don't see it like you do...evidently the mods don't either, it's no reason to insult them. I mean they did point out that by your own rules you'd have been reprimanded too, which illustrates that maybe that you're letting your pre-existing views on someone colour your thoughts on "how bad" the things they say to other people are, without realising that it's pretty easy to do yourself without any harm intended.
It seems like maybe MD got on your bad side a while ago...probably due to what you've considered to be malicious treatment of either yourself or others as new folk, but I will step in and say on numerous occasions I've seen you reciprocate in ways that'll only perpetuate the cycle. Why should YOU end it? Why should SHE?
Nobody's been seriously insulted or attacked, nobody's been character assassinated...
I think you're a good member here, but you're just taking this thing in circles.
Also - please watch what you say about "groups" you've linked. As well as MD and Elvis you're talking about pinkfloyd who's probably...never attacked anyone in her life, and Disease, one of our better and longest standing here - also a person who's seldom had any trouble with anyone.
If people arrive and can't cope with essentially the same reality that they would have to deal with in real life anywhere, well, really that's on them...I've seen legitimate issues acted upon.
My suggestion would be if you can't get along, ignore.
Making ongoing argument threads and mod insults etc, it's only going to get you banned, and it's not like you'll be seen as some martyr for the cause...it'll just be you not letting go...you haven't been seriously insulted, and you've given as much as you've got, so, isn't it time to just drop it before it goes in yet another circle?