Modding Notice - Crossroads

Sorry Roller, Only just read this due to time diffrence.

From my part, i have an opinion on this.
firstly, i dont think it was fair to use Brix's name in this post or put amy of this to him. He's not been with us know for some time (RIP) and we've had adequate time to change and adjust the rules to our agreements. As suchthey are "our / your" rules, as laid down and agreed by all of us. just my opinion.

Next, as i can see quite obviously where this thread is going. the "usual suspects" bans etc is only aimed at a few, of which i will openly say i am one. Swords is another andthere are a few others who are under the radar. Maybe, and its just an idea, maybe you should have just contacted those of us who you are referring to. Im not offended by it but the likes of Houston, Soopa, Staines, eternal who post just as often, but never get into it disagreements may be.

i for one, think also agree that our mods do a top job. As I've said before on many occaisions I'll trust & agree with what-ever decisions you and Nines make. if that means i'm gone then so be it.

I dont really think this is even a thread, looks to me like a bit of a warning shot & whilst its your perogative, lets not forget this is an open forum for expressing opinions, discussion and diffrent views.
therefore we are all entitled to an opinion (i think)

Like i said in another post, I wil not accept being slagged off on another board by any poster and will fight my own corner. Maybe i should have run to the mods and put in a complaint asking for a ban? Sorry I dont do that and have no desire to ever be like that.

Like i said earlier, its your forum and OUR rules. I think you should run it as you see fit. Its your decision to make mate. i trust you and nines enough to know you will make a correct decision on how to move forward.

 

I work for an airline and as soon as one or two people get gobby or out of order, they "manage" this by issuing a company-wide directive. Not the right approach, in my view. Sledgehammer.

Focus on the trouble-makers and p*ss-takers, but overall let banter rule. A weird opinion is not offensive, just weird....and that sparks debate....anything personal needs to be stamped on, though; 95% of Members abide by the spirit of the board.

 

Mods do good ... they are nice

 

I think the point is that the rules themselves are quite strict but, in effect, the mods shouldn't act at all until complaints are received with explicit reference to the post(s) in question.

This isn't the reality and, although they're doing a great job, "leaving them to it" puts all the strain on them to check and deliberate over every post / thread.

I'm guessing the point is that posters should highlight problem posts but the question here is around how strictly the rules are applied.

In this regard, Roller and Nines have set a healthy precedent of reasonable acceptance levels but not allowing everything to go but the onus needs to come to us posters to assist in bringing issues to their attention with a similar tolerance level in mind (and to abandon notions of stigma associated with doing so). That's my view anyway.

 

Guys, its your forum to moderate so you should moderate as you wish. If its got to the stage where you no longer want to do this any more you should leave.

 

The mods on this board do an excellent job, and it's under-appreciated by most of us. It's a thankless task, and most of us wouldn't have the time or patience to do it.

I visit the board many times a day, and read most posts - as soon as the thread starts to degenerate into a slagging match, I move on to the next topic and ignore the bitchiness - get a life people, most of us aren't interested in your little squabbles.

Run the board how you see fit guys, you'll have my support - thanks for all your hard work and the time you dedicate to this board.

 

I know that "the usual suspects" include me and maybe I'm top of the pile. I've no problem with that. Here's my tuppenceworth:

I feel that if anything the rules are too strict. On Fora such as these, good Moderation is little Moderation in my opinion. I've used an economic analogy before in explaining this and I think it works well to explain where I'm at. If you allow people the freedom to create wealth and spend their money as they see fit, you may well see economic development. If, on the other hand, you stifle them with rules, regulations, red tape and high tax you, in effect, cut off their oxygen supply and the wealth for everyone decreases.

The Moderators in this arena are the Government and if they allow people to express their opinions freely, even to the point of clashing heads, they will open the floor up to all sorts of discussions, debates, arguments and not a little humour, thus having the net effect of having a vibrant Forum full of entertainment and discussion. Exactly the way a Forum such as this should be. Alternatively, if the Governors introduce more draconian measures such as shutting down threads, warning people, listening to serial complainants and banning members then you'll end up with a subdued and inhibited Board where folk are afraid to express an opinion and with the lack of passionate debate, lose interest altogether and log off permanently. The place then dies of asphyxiation just like the over regulated depressed economies of Socialist States.

I want to make another point and it relates to Matts post above. Matt you're a top lad but I disagree with your point there. I've said on a number of occasions that the system we have here is inherently flawed and here's why. The private complaints facility can be abused by people who want fellow members banned. One or two people can take it upon themselves to find some sort of offence in a thread and barrack the Moderators about it via this medium. You could have 30 posters on a thread with maybe 700 viewers, all of whom find no offence within it whatsoever. But one crank can send a complaint - or worse still, PM a fellow crank and the two of them do it - to the Mods and the Moderators through no fault of their own have to act and be seen to act. The thread is closed and a poster is disciplined. So what you get is one or two people deciding the outcome for everyone even though everyone else had no problem with it. Its a tail wagging the dog situation. Is that democratic? Of course its not. I would nearly go as far as to say its Dictatorial. I want to stress though, its not the Mods fault. All they can do is work the system we have.

So no Matt, I think what you're proposing is the antithesis to the very principles an open Board like this is supposed to adhere to, namely transparency and clarity.

If the current complaints procedure is to stay in place then how about some modifications to it so it can be clearer? What about a list of members being compiled by the Mods at the end of each month, stating how many times each member complained about another? No need to say about whom or what, just a list so we all know who's pulling the strings when it comes to thread closures and disciplinary action. Its just an idea and I'd be interested to hear other people's take on it.

Anyway, that's my opinion on this matter for what its worth.

 

I see what you're saying Swords, assuming we're not going through a full rule overhaul (which was ratified by majority less than a year ago) then the OP is asking more about how the rules are applied.

If all is the common consensus of calm then it's not an issue but that's perhaps not the case now.

I think you're answering the question by saying the rules should be applied as leniently as possible and, as such, there'd be no problem the mods refuting a complaint on grounds of it being overly sensitive - not every PM to a mod needs to result in decisive disciplinary action.

If we create this forum as a written battlefield then it's unfair to expect the mods to review every item but we should alert them to issues - ie take responsibility for the posts and threads we're involved in.

I reckon our cross-forum exchanges with the Foxes may have prompted this and it degenerates most threads IMO but is of our own doing - our forays onto their board invite return visits.

I may have misunderstood the OP myself of course.

 

is it Clive

 

Hoist by his own petard.

 

.

 

Just keep doing the excellent job you're doing Roller and 9s, applying the rules sensibly and insightfully, thank you. The rest of us let's make the mods lives easier by applying common sense and not ever seeking or going out of our way to cause offense, simples.

 

Short but sweetly put. Absolutely this, especially the bold.

 

befofe you all start complaining to the mods I never stated the jokes were any good

 

Count me in ................... and please, don't get dishearten, act on it and keep up the good work.
Cheers,
Aussie

 

Couldn't have put it any better

 

Fully agree. The strength and differentiating factor of this forum is "decent conversation with fellow QPR fans". I hope that this culture can be maintained.

 

For the record:
1) The mods do a fantastic, thankless job on here and I am very grateful to them for their hard work and diligence.
2) In my opinion, debate on football, however robust with wildly differing views, is exactly what this forum is there for and the same principal applies to reasonable OT threads too.
3) Robust debate on football matters has often changed my views on things..........e.g. I am now more sympathetic to different formations than I used to be and this is directly due to my quite strong exchange of views on the subject with others on here. That's brilliant and how it should be.

4) However, the bating of fellow posters along with personal accusations that are happening regularly are the things that are ruining this forum for me. I take the point about it being a forum and most have never met and most likely never will, but I'm afraid that simply isn't the point. If someone accuses me of being something that I'm not, made on a thread where the accuser makes no effort to address the subject that's being discussed, instead just finds an opportunity to get a personal dig or accusation in, that is simply unacceptable.
I apologise to any on here who have been pissed off when I have got into a row, but I will NEVER sit back and take being (sometimes openly and sometimes insinuated) accused of being something that I'm not, especially something of a very serious nature where the accuser could be liable to prosecution for libel. This isn't about differing views on anything, we are all entitled to an opinion, but when a poster is targeted on nearly every thread by someone merely intent on winding them up and accusing them of things in a very personal way, then that is totally unacceptable and against our forum rules as I understand them.
5) I haven't made an official complaint about this. Not in my nature. I will abide by whatever the mods deem to be the right way to go.

 

Here is an example.

http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/248445-Bae

Trying to have a sensible debate about BAE got lost in bickering.

Here is the point. I am not bothered by the bickering but I am very bothered by the time I have to waste trawling through the thread and ignoring the personal war to see if there is actually any football related points I might want to respond to.

Time is the most valuable commodity any of us have so I would love not to have to waste it reading other peoples' petty bickering which is of zero interest to me.

The Mods have my complete backing in whatever they decide to do for the good of the majority.

 

Frankly, those posters that revert to personal abuse and aggression have already shown that they are incapable of self-restraint; that there are repeat offenders in this regard shows this. A leopard doesn't change its spots and all that. To suggest, Travis, that resorting to such measures enriches the experience for us all is baloney. It is quite possible to have a mature and intelligent debate with your fellow contributors without dragging it down into the gutters and back alleys. The Open Debate thread proved this, although there were one or two that came onto it on the wind up. I'm all for stirring things up with alternative opinion, provided it is either constructive and intelligent, or delivered with overtly and inoffensive humour.

I'm surprised that our Mods have the patience that they do. If I were a Mod myself I would be striking people out with almost reckless abandon for the sort of unnecessary tripe that there's been on here lately, so those that believe they're enriching this board for us all with foul-mouthed aggression and antagonistic wumming should be thankful for the patience that is currently shown.