I want to make it clear again that my original comments were in no way aimed at anyone in particular; I also want to say that I never made the accusation of 'jobs for the boys' when it comes to moderation. My original point was about the number of mods we had and that perhaps we should go easy on the rules for a while until the forum gets a little bigger.
There has been no abuse of power for quite some time on Lea, but as anyone who has read my various posts in the last couple of weeks could see, I'm thinking about the long term future of the board. As I said in another topic, the Blu Ray release is likely to see an upsurge in members. Maybe not as much as 2004 (it is another 7 years on after all) but there are still likely to be more than we've had in the last couple of years. I want to see the forum prepare for this in the best way possible and make a few changes to the way things are done and perceived around here.
As a regular member there is very little I can do except highlight potential issues and try to open people's eyes to the problems and perceptions that may occur. I may not be considered one of the 'old guard' but I was a very regular member on the first board, and saw it disintegrate into petty arguments, favouritism and power-hungry moderation. This happened once and it could easily happen again; that's what the purpose of this topic was.
If anyone's been offended personally then, well, you misread my comments. Otherwise I'm sorry if the issue is causing consternation but I feel the forum has to be set up right for the future, and this is the best time to do it.